Love: Discovered
by SoapMaster
Summary: Naruto heard something he wasn't supposed to hear. How will he react to Sasuke's confession? Note: Currently being rewritten. SasuNaruSasu.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the franchise of Naruto.

Authors Note: This story continues from after the Sand/Sound villages' attack on the Leaf village, after Orochimaru killed the third Hokage, and after Naruto defeated Gaara. Itachi has not arrived in the leaf village, and the fifth Hokage has been named: Jiraya.  
This is an action/adventure fiction, but it will involve a slow romance between Naruto and Sasuke. It will involve Yaoi and Slash, so if that offends you, then don't read. It's as simple as that.

Chapter One:  
"Kakashi sensei," I began, "what will happen to us now? Will we become chunin?"

"Yeah, Kakashi!" Sakura exclaimed. "The sand and sound ninja are gone, so what will happen to the chunin exam?" Even Sasuke looked up in anticipation of the answer.

"Lord Hokage said that all the ninja who help out during the invasion will become chunin. That means all three of you, Shikamaru, and Shino are now chunin."

"Wait, a minute Kakashi," Sasuke said. "What happens now that we're chunin?"

"Normally, this is where we'd go our seperate ways," Kakashi said. "But given the circumstances, Jiraya wants us to stay a team."

"Why?" I pouted.

"Because he is Lord Hokage, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Anyway, we have an A++ ranked mission ahead of us, which is why I called you all to the bridge today."

We didn't know what Kakashi wanted from us when he told us to meet him herer. And of course, he was an hour late. The rebuilding of the Leaf village had begun, and it was starting to look like it did before. But there was still a long way.

Sakura, Sasuke and I all ended up in the hospital after our fight with Gaara. She was the worst injured. If I had not defeated Gaara when I did, she would have died. Sasuke's curse mark was acting up again, and Kakashi needed to put a second seal on it. As for me, my chakra was all used up, so I just spent a month resting.

Kiba was also hurt. Apparently, he and Hinata went to the hospital after my match, and the Sand and Sound ninja attacked there too. They were both hurt, but they fought until other Leaf shinobi arrived. Kiba and I were in the same room, as so many were injured that people had to double up. We became closer there. I saw a lot of Shino and Hinata, too. Shino was hurt during his fight with Konkuro, and Hinata was still recovering from her fight with Neji.

"What's our mission?" I asked.

"Our mission is to capture and kill Kisame Hoshigake," Kakashi said plainly.

"Who is he?" Sakura asked.

"He is a former Hidden Mist Shinobi, but is now a rogue ninja. He was in a group of nine rogue shinobi called the Akatsuki. Other notable former members in the Akatsuki are Orochimaru," he said, as Sakura gasped, "and Itachi Uchiha."

Uchiha. That means he's from the same clan as Sasuke. I looked over at him, and he tensed. I thought Sasuke was the only remaining Uchiha.

"Wait," I asked. "Who's Itachi Uchiha?"

"He's a rogue ninja from the leaf village," Kakashi explained. "He single-handedly killed his entire clan. Except for one person." He looked over at Sasuke.

Now it made sense. All of Sasuke's comments about killing his brother, and a guy named Itachi, and being an avenger, and someone killing his clan. It all fit together. Itachi, who must have been Sasuke's older brother, had killed all the Uchihas except for Sasuke.

"Why did the Akatsuki break up?" Sakura asked.

"People were concerned that others in the group had too much power. Orochimaru left and started the Sound village. Other members broke off in pairs, or groups."

"Who's Kisame Hoshigake's partner?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know," Kakashi told us. "For all we know, he may not have any. Or he may have a few."

"I get that he's bad, Kakashi," I said, "but why do we have to kill him all of a sudden?"

"Do you remember Zabuza?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course I do," I said.

"Do you remember his sword?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "How could I forget it? It was huge!"

"There are nine swordsman with legendary swords. Zabuza was one, and Kisame is another. Kisame is currently hiding in the Land of Fire, so it is our job to find him. And while he's here, he is a present danger to our village."

"What rank is he?" Sasuke asked.

"S-ranked." Sasuke and Sakura both gasped.

"Kakashi sensei," Sakura said, "why don't they send the ANBU Black Ops to find him? Or a group of Jonin? Why us?"

"Because the ANBU and the Jonin have to stay to protect the village," he paused. "Any more questions?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said with a smirk. "When do we leave?"

A/N: So what do you think? Is it good. Read and Review for me. I know everyone says to do that, but I want your guys' honest opinions so I can grow as a writer. This is my first fan fic that I've written, so tell me the truth. I'll take it like a true ninja. Because that's my nindo. But anyway…hope you enjoyed. If I like a suggestion, it might take a while to appear because I have a lot of chapters written already. I'm going to try and post once a day, and stay on top of it all. I plan on this being a 40+ chapter story, but so far, all the chapters are just a few pages long, not too much.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, you wouldn't be here right now. You be watching this all unfold on your television screen. Unfortunately, I don't own Naruto, and the people who do don't want to entertain you. Ah well…enjoy.**

**Authors Note: Alright, I didn't exactly get a boat load of reviews for my first chapter, but I know a lot of people read my story, and I have a few people following it. I'm even on the favorite list of a couple of people. I'm excited, but I'd like reviews. Even anonymous ones. I am new to writing fan fics, so I wanted to know what you guys think! Give me constructive criticism! I can take it!**

Chapter Two:  
We left the next day and traveled to a village in the Land of Fire called Oronichu. It was the last place Kisame was spotted.

"Any news, guys?" Kakashi asked when we got back to our motel. We had gone off in pairs – Kakashi and Sakura, me and Sasuke – to collect information on him.

"Naruto and I found out where he was living and who he was living with," Sasuke said.

"Really?" Kakashi asked. "And did you two behave?"

Well, not exactly.

We had gotten into a fight over where to start. I said to start with motels in the village, but Sasuke told me that if he was hiding, he wouldn't get a room at a motel. He wanted to go to all the food places in the village, because he had to eat sometime. I didn't argue – because he suggested we start off at the Ramen place.

After I had my ramen and Sasuke questioned the owner, we found out that Kisame was living with a woman in her house, so we decided to stop by. There was no one home so, we decided to stay. He had complimented me on how I defeated Gaara. I thought for a second that maybe Sasuke was starting to respect me as a ninja. Until…

"If I had to place bets between you and Gaara, I wouldn't have thought in a million years you could even come close to beating him," he said with a smug smile. He was taunting me! "I mean, he's Gaara. I know I was holding my own until the curse mark acted up, but you had almost no chance."

"Oh yeah, Sasuke!" I yelled. "Well I did beat him, while you were busy crying in pain. Is the curse mark too much for you?"

"Shut up, Naruto," he said. I had beaten him this time. "You have no idea what it's like to have Orochimaru's curse mark. And I hope you never have to."

"Why do you hope I wouldn't have to?" I asked. Did he actually care?

"Well, I wouldn't wish this on anyone," he said. "Besides, you wouldn't be able to handle it." The smug smirk was back. "It's a good thing Orochimaru doesn't see you as valuable enough to be worth inflicting the curse on, right?"

Now he beat me. That's when the door opened and a woman entered.

"Kisame was living with a woman who didn't know who he really was," I told Kakashi. "She had a huge crush on her, so she let him stay with her."

"Hm," Kakashi said. He was deep in thought. "What did she say about Kisame?"

"He didn't do anything to her," Sasuke continued, "but he was behind a string of disappearances in the village. When they found out, he killed a few people, and fled before the leaf ninja were called for help."

"Interesting," Kakashi said.

"What did you find out?" Sasuke asked.

"That he was behind a string of disappearances, same as you. But we also found out that he had a job at a farm on the other side of the village."

"So that's where we're going next?" Sasuke asked.

"It appears so," Kakashi said.

"Fine," I said. "But I don't want to be in Sasuke's group anymore."

"I thought you were getting along fine," Kakashi said. Sasuke and I glared at each other. "Fine," he finally conceded. "Sasuke, you're with me. Sakura, you're with Naruto."

"Aw," Sakura said. I don't see what the problem was. I liked our arrangement just fine.

**Author's Note #2: I know this chapter was short, but I will update with Chapter Three quickly. I'm not going to write a story about them falling in love in a day. Expect many chapters leading up to it. I probably could have done a few long chapters, but I like updating daily and giving myself enough of a lag that if I don't write a chapter a day, I can still upload one a day. If you read me before going to sleep or right when you get back from school or work, just check in. I can almost guarantee that there will be an update if you wait 24 hours.**

**ANYWAY…I'm done rambling. REMEMBER TO REVIEW! I NEED REVIEWS!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I'd try to think of something clever to say, but I'm too depressed over not owning Naruto to think of anything.**

**Author's Note: Here's chapter three! I got a few reviews and the general consensus is that I am doing too little too often and I should slow down. That's why I've decided to make this chapter much longer. I'll update again in a few days to give you time to read it. I've heard people say that the story is good, and the groundwork is there, so that's a good thing. Without further ado, I give you, Chapter Three!**

Chapter Three:  
In the morning, Kakashi sent Sakura and I to find the woman that housed Kisame, while he and Sasuke went to the farm. We had gone back to her house, but she was gone.

While in her house, I noticed something I didn't notice the day before. There were pictures on her fireplace of her and Kisame. They looked really in love. I looked around and saw the homey environment, and I couldn't help but think that Kisame wasn't all bad. He was good enough for her to love.

We left her house realizing that she wouldn't be coming back so soon. She was probably trying to meet up with Kisame to tell him that we were looking for him. We decided to find a place to have some lunch while we waited for Kakashi sensei and Sasuke to be done at the farm.

After a nice helping of ramen, we left the restaurant and headed back towards the heart of the village where we were staying. As we were walking down the cobblestone road, Sakura tugged my arm and pointed to a woman.

It was Kisame's lover!

"Hey!" I yelled, running to catch up to her. She looked at me as if I was a threat. She started running towards us, but she passed us. We watched her run from where we had come.

"Hey! Wait up!" I yelled. "Why are you running?" I screamed at her. She continued to run towards the edge of the village. Even when she reached the edge of the village, she continued until she reached the woods. Sakura and I were following her, but by the time we reached the woods, it was obvious that we had lost her. That's when we saw him – Kisame Hoshigaki.

He was very tall and looked like a shark. His skin had a blueish hue that made him seem less…human, somehow. He had small, white eyes with what appeared to be gills under them. His hair even looked like a shark fin!

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, shaking. Kisame had another three shinobi with him, along with his girlfriend. But the shinobi didn't look like members of the Akatsuki, they looked like henchmen. He looked at one and nodded. The man took Kisame's lover's hand and disappeared with her, leaving only two left.

"Leaf village shinobi," the henchman on his left said to Kisame. "They probably came here looking for you."

"Wonderful," Kisame said. He took his sword off of his back. I couldn't tell what it was, as it was wrapped up. "Some practice for the real deal."

"Hey!" I yelled. "We are chunin! Don't think you can beat us easily."

"I'm an S ranked criminal," he said, laughing. "I've killed ONBU and Jonin. Two weak chunin don't mean anything to me."

"Sakura," I said. "Get Kakashi and Sasuke."

"But I can't leave you alone," she said. "I'm staying."

"I can hold them off," I said. "But we'll both die unless Kakashi and Sasuke are here."

"Look at that, Kisame," the henchman on the right of Kisame said. "They're already scared."

I refocused on the shinobi in front of me. "Sakura, GO!" I yelled. I formed a hand sign, and did my most familiar jutsu.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" And just like that, there were twenty other Naruto ready to pounce on the enemy.

"This should be easy, Kisame," the left sided henchman said. He charged at my clones, throwing kunai at three at once. Two were hit, but the third dodged and attacked. But the shadow clone couldn't hit him, because he was a clone himself. The real henchman ran out from my right and pulled out what must have been fifty shuriken.

"Shurikan rain jutsu!" he yelled. All the shuriken began to rain down on my clones and I. I used a substitution jutsu before I could get hurt. I appeared behind Kisame and his other goon. I threw a kunai at Kisame, but he dodged it. The goon who was fighting me refocused his attention. I prepared for my newest, most powerful jutsu by doing another shadow clone. This time, I only made two others. We all prepared to do the aforementioned powerful jutsu.

I'll go into detail about that. As I was being brought to the hospital after my fight with Gaara, I saw Jiraya use a jutsu on a remaining sound ninja. I eventually got him to teach it to me, but it took over a month to learn. It's called...

"Rasengan!" The ball of air began to spin in my hand. All three of our hands, actually. We charged at the three of them. My clones hit the goons, who spun into two trees, which collapsed on top of them. But Kisame dodged my third one.

I made my clones disappear, and focused myself on Kisame. I saw out of the corner of my eye something that I should not have seen. I guess Kisame followed my gaze, because he then noticed the shurikan traveling towards the back of his head.

"Hn," he said. "Clever ruse. You ordered your friend to get help, but you had her secretly waiting to attack me when my guard was down." Except that wasn't the plan. A shadow clone of Kisame came out of the forest, holding Sakura by her hair.

"Sakura!" I yelled. Kisame - the one in front of me - unwrapped his sword, which was when I saw it. His sword was made of shark skin, which absorbed chakra.

"Now you die," he said. He swung the blade at me, so ran from it. I ran up a tree and hid. I needed to come up with an idea to save Sakura. I couldn't attack him head on, or I would be beaten. I had to use strategy. I then silently cursed the gods for not having put Shikamaru on my team. I thought _what would Shikamaru do?_ Then it struck me!

I would do a shadow clone jutsu again. My clone would travel tree to tree towards Sakura, making Kisame think that I was doing it. He would focus on following me, and then I could attack him from behind.

I did my shadow clone jutsu again, and the shadow clone jumped trees. My plan looked like it was working on the ground. I attacked Kisame from behind, but he turned into a stump. _Substitution jutsu_ I realized. Then, I felt shark skin grazing my neck.

"It ends here and now for you," he said. He was behind me, with his sword at my throat. I was done. Until...

I felt the pressure of the sword on my neck relieved. I turned around and saw that Sasuke had kicked Kisame away from me. But where did he come from?

I didn't have time to worry about that. I focused again on the clone holding Sakura. He had _his_ sword to her neck. I couldn't do anything. _Unless_.

My clone who was left alone in the tree came out and kicked the clone of Kisame just like Sasuke did to the real one. I picked Sakura up and took her into a tree. I laid her down between two close branches, as she was unconscious. This was as safe as she'd get. I had to get back to Sasuke and Kisame!

When I got back, Sasuke had his chidori ready, so I restarted my rasengan. We came at Kisame from different sides, so he couldn't protect himself fully. But then...

He disappeared! He was really fast. Fast enough that neither Sasuke or I could stop ourselves, and our rasengan and chidori collided, throwing us both back. The collision was so massive that the trees we smashed into had been chopped down by the impact. We were hurt, and Kisame was unscathed. He first came at me, but Sasuke was at me first. He protected me.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" He spat fire at Kisame, who had to halt his attack to dodge. Then, I saw a kunai coming from the tree where I left Sakura. She must have woken up!

It stuck in Kisame's back, paralyzing him momentarily. Sasuke seized the moment. "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" A flaming orb escaped from Sasuke's mouth, engulfing Kisame. Sakura came out of hiding, and joined us. I prepared to attack once the fireball jutsu ended. I summoned my last bit of chakra for a third rasengan.

The fireball jutsu ended, and Kisame dropped to the ground. I ran at him with my rasengan. He was finished. But then, a mysterious figure got in the way. He wore the same robes as Kisame. He grabbed me by the arm and flung me into a tree. But not before I could see his headband. It had a leaf insignia with a slash made through it.

"Hello, brother," the robed man said. "How nice to see you after all this time."

"Itachi." 

OoOoOoOoO

Itachi looked just like Sasuke. It was uncanny, actually. If Sasuke was just a few years older, he would be the spitting image of Itachi.

"Itachi," Sasuke said, amazed. "I've been waiting so long for this." He charged up his chakra, and began what would be his third chidori of the battle. He would be spent after this. He ran at Itachi with his chidori, but Itachi just dodged it. He appeared to vanish and reappear right behind Sasuke. He was about to deal a blow when he heard Sakura.

"Hey, Itachi," she said. "Eat this." She threw three shuriken at him, but he dodged it just as easily. By this time, I had recovered a bit from the blow from the chidori/rasengan collision and I went at him. He had dodged me, and it became clear he was faster than all of us. He turned to Sasuke, who screamed out.

"Ah!" he yelled. It was his curse mark. It took over his body again, and he fell to the ground, shaking and yelling.

"I see Orochimaru has marked you, Sasuke," Itachi said. "That will make my job easier."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"I need to kill you for the most advanced form of the sharingan to make itself available to me. I need to kill the last Uchiha."

"Hey, loser!" I yelled, grabbing Itachi and Sasuke's attention. "If you want to kill Sasuke, you'll have to kill me first. Believe it!"

"I don't have time for you," Itachi said. He turned to Sasuke, this time to kill, but I was there first.

"Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" I yelled. There must have been a thousand of me, filling up the circular clearing that we were fighting in.

"You're not the only one who can do a shadow clone jutsu," Itachi said. Two more of him appeared. One went to Sakura, and grabbed her by the throat.

"Let go of her!" we yelled. We sprung into action attacking the three Uchiha clones. We defeated the one holding Sakura easily, but she had passed out again already. His second clone succumbed easily. His strength was amazing, but there were still hundreds of my clones, and they were overpowering him.

"Uzumaki barrage!" I yelled. I kicked him up in the air, but before I could kick down, he turned to mud – a substitution jutsu. Then I noticed something else. Kisame was awake again, and he used his sword to cut down my clones. I wasn't going to win this one, so I made my clones vanish to regain their chakra before Kisame's sword ate it up.

"Now I will kill Sasuke," Itachi said.

"No!" I yelled. I jumped in front of the kunai that Itachi sent towards Sasuke, and I took in in my gut.

I fell to the ground. I knew I was bleeding badly, and Itachi had won. All three of us were incapacitated. I had given up hope.

Then, something made Itachi, Kisame, Sasuke and I all turn our heads. The familiar sound of chidori echoed the clearing, as Kakashi sensei used his Lightning Blade on Itachi. Itachi fell back. I would have seen more, but that's when I blacked out. 

OoOoOoOoO

I woke up, and didn't know what time it was, or what was even going on. Actually, I wasn't even completely awake. I could hear things, and I felt the presence of people, but I couldn't open my eyes or move my body, or even talk.

It was clear that the battle was over. I only felt three other presences around me: Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi. But Sakura and Kakashi were a little ways away. It was Sasuke who was right next to me, and he was holding my hand.

"Come on, Naruto," he said, "wake up. I can't lose you." I felt a wetness on my face. He was crying! "You can't die on me. Not here, not now. I could never forgive myself."

So the mighty Sasuke Uchiha was crying – over me! This was strange, but I guess I understood. Back in the Land of Waves when I thought Sasuke had died, I had the same reaction.

"You're my best friend, Naruto," he continued. "I can't let you die protecting me. I can't live knowing that my life meant your death."

I think that was the most shocking thing that ever happened in my life. First he was crying, and then he told me I was his best friend. That couldn't be. Although, he never was a very social being. Always dark and mysterious in the academy, I guess the only people he's ever opened up to are Sakura, Kakashi and I. In a way, it made sense. And in a way, he was my best friend, too.

"You have to wake up Naruto," he said. "You cannot die. I won't let you." His voice wasn't as shaky anymore. He was more focused. "Just open your eyes!"

When I say that in that second, opening my eyes was the hardest thing I have ever experienced, I'm not kidding. I've mastered the shadow clone jutsu, I've defeated Neji Hyuga and Gaara of the Sand. I've learned rasengan, and I can summon Gammabunta. I have the chakra of the nine tailed fox sealed inside me. And yet, all of that was a piece of cake compared to this.

My eyes began to flutter, and he let go of my hand. He had a slight blush, I guess from holding my hand while I woke up. He turned to the others.

"Kakashi, Sakura!" he yelled. "He's awake."

They rushed over to make sure I was alright. Apparently, I had been out for three days. When Kakashi arrived, he was able to send Itachi running, and had managed to kill Kisame. Our mission was over, and we'd return home as soon as I was well enough to travel.

"You almost died, Naruto," she said.

"I know, Sakura," I replied. "I'm just glad that you and Sasuke are all right."

"We're fine. Thanks to you. If it wasn't for you, Itachi would have strangled me to death, and done god knows what to Sasuke." I looked at my raven haired teammate, my best friend, and saw his fists clenched.

"We were all worried about you," the kunoichi said. She glanced at Sasuke for a brief second.

Then, Sasuke left. Ran, was the better way to describe it. He couldn't get out of here faster. I tried to get up to follow him, but I wasn't able to. My wound was too severe.

"I'll get him," Kakashi said. He left, leaving me all alone with Sakura.

"Sakura," I said. "Were you really worried?"

"Of course, Naruto," she said. "You were dying." She began to tear up.

"I know, but what about Sasuke? Wasn't he in bad shape?"

"Believe me, Naruto," she said. "You were in much worse shape."

"I know," I said. "It's just –." I stopped. I realized what I was going to say before I said it.

"That I always pay so much more attention to Sasuke?" she completed my though for me. "You're right, I do." This was not a conversation I wanted to have, with Sakura of all people. "Sasuke has the looks and the charm. Let's face it, he's the Leaf Village heartthrob." I really didn't like where this is going.

"But I realized something, as we were watching you die," she said. Now I was curious!

"What did you realize?"

"As charming and hot and sexy as Sasuke is," she began, "there's no substance behind it. He can be deep when he wants to, but he doesn't have a personality that's very attractive. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," I conceded, "but what does that have to do with watching me die?"

"I realized, Naruto," she said. "That you _do_ have the substance behind it. You're powerful, your sweet, and you can use your head when you need to. I know you've liked me for a while, but I was too absorbed in Sasuke to see it. Sasuke would never like me back. I realize that now."

"I know how you feel," I said. "Liking somebody who I know doesn't like me back." I knew I shouldn't, but I was seeing her for the first time with her attention solely on me, not on Sasuke. "Believe it."

"I do," she said. "Because you feel that way about me. That no matter how much you like me, the feelings are one-sided. But I realized that –." She stopped talking.

"What did you realize?" I asked.

"I realized that they aren't one sided."

"What do you mean?" I really needed her to spell it out for me. She couldn't be saying what I think she was saying. There was no way.

"I realized that I like you too, Naruto." She bent down and captured my lips in a kiss that was so long overdue, that I lost myself in it.

"Sakura," I said. "Does this mean we're –" I began. She cut me off.

"Naruto," she said with a big smile. "Will you go out with me?"

**Author's Note: Hehe…now we have some Sakura thrown into the mix…and just after we've had the first hint of Sasuke/Naruto love. I warn you, though, it'll take a long time to build their relationship. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed. Remember to R&R. Tell me if you like this better than the stuff before. And no, there won't be much NaruSaku, this is just a small piece of the angst and drama of the story. So calm down. You'll get your SasuNaru.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: As I blew out my birthday candles, I wished to own Naruto. Why didn't it work?**

**Author's Note: The last chapter was the longest of them so far, but this one is a little bit longer. The general consensus is that the story is great. I have had a **_**lot**_** of chapters already done, so I'm editing it so they're longer and more detailed.**

Chapter Four:  
It had become public knowledge that Sakura was dating me now. At first, many people thought she was nuts, but she told them that they didn't know the real me. Everything seemed right in to me. I'd wanted Sakura to go out with me for years, and it was finally happening.

So why wasn't I the happiest guy on Earth? Well, for one thing, Sasuke stopped talking to me. So much for all that 'best friend' stuff he said. And Kakashi was being weird about him too. Like the other day, Sakura was late to the bridge (later than Kakashi!) and I wondered where she was. Sasuke sulked like he always seems to be doing nowadays, and Kakashi tried to brush everything off. It was confusing.

I wanted to talk to Sasuke about what was going on, but I didn't know how to do that. I guess I should start by going by his place. The thing is, I've never actually been there before.

Both Sasuke and I are orphans, but there's a big difference. The Third Hokage bought me an apartment to live in, and I was checked up on by Iruka a lot. Sasuke had his house already, and he had no one until he met Kakashi.

So I made up my mind. After training today, I was going to go to Sasuke's and talk to him. But something happened before hand, and I wasn't able to.

When we were all at the bridge, Sasuke made a strange request of Kakashi.

"Kakashi, I'd like to leave this squad."

"What!" I yelled. Sakura turned around to him too.

"Why would you want to ruin the thing we have going?" she asked. "We're a great team."

"It's getting to be too...cramped," he said. "Kakashi, you understand why I can't be on this team anymore, right?"

"I do, Sasuke," he said.

"What!" I yelled. "Kakashi, you can't really be serious! You're going to ruin this group because Sasuke wants to leave for god-knows-why?"

"I'm sorry it came down to this, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "You can leave, now." Kakashi turned to face me, as Sasuke left. Sakura went after him, but I was too worried about Kakashi. "Don't give me that look, Naruto."

"You just let him leave!" I asked. "What's wrong with you? Why does he want to leave?"

"He has to leave, Naruto," Kakashi said. "He'd be ineffective in a mission at this point."

"Why?" I asked. "What's changed since our mission to kill Kisame?" As soon as I said it I realized the truth. "It's because of me and Sakura, isn't it?" I asked.

"In a way," Kakashi said. I guess I'd have to drag it out of him. "He feels like a third wheel now that you two are dating."

"Don't give me that bull, Kakashi. He likes Sakura, doesn't he?" I didn't really believe it, but it was the only reasonable explanation. He wouldn't be able to watch his crush and his best friend date while trying to protect them. But if he liked Sakura, he could have had her a while ago. It didn't make sense, but it was the most sensible thing.

"He doesn't like Sakura," Kakashi said. "At least not like that."

"Then what's wrong?" I asked.

"I can't tell you, Naruto. As of this moment, Team 7 is disbanded until we have a new member to fill in. I have to tell Lord Hokage about this." He let me all alone with my thoughts.

Screw Kakashi. I was going to go to Sasuke's and ask him what happened. I had to talk to him myself. On my way, I ran into Sakura, who was just on her way back from seeing Sasuke.

"Don't bother," she said. "He refuses to see sense."

"I'm going to try, anyway. Kakashi says that until we get a new member, Team 7 is disbanded."

After absorbing the news, Sakura went to tell Ino what had happened, while I arrived at the Uchiha house. I didn't bother knocking, I just walked in.

"What the _fuck_?" I asked him. "What the fuck are you doing here when we should be training. Why the fuck did you quit the team? Answer me!"

"I couldn't stand it anymore. I'd prefer to do my training more in private. I need a lot of work if I am going to kill Itachi."

"So that's what this is about?" I saw him blush a little, but it must have been my imagination. "Sasauke," I said in a gentler tone, "you are one of the toughest, strongest, fastest ninja in the village. You could kill Itachi if you tried."

"I did try," he said. "And I failed. I will never fail again."

"Sasuke," I said. "You are a powerful ninja. If you trained with Kakashi, Sakura and I -"

"That's the point!" he yelled. "We aren't training, we're doing missions. I need to focus on that. Sorry, Naruto."

"Fine," I said. "Just be that way." I left, and slammed the door behind me for good measure.

OoOoOoOoO

For the next few months, Team 7 hadn't gotten a single assignment. That's because we didn't get a fourth member for the squad. Sasuke trained with Kakashi mostly, and I trained with Jiraya. I learned my elemental release was wind, and I mastered my first wind jutsu - wind style: whirlwhind ball jutsu. Meanwhile, Kakashi was teaching Sasuke how to do a fire release jutsu - fire style: shurikan flame dance.

While we were training, I was growing restless. One day, while Kakashi was teaching Sasuke a new move, I decided to join them, and I asked Kakashi about our new member.

"So Kakashi," I said. "Who is this new guy who's supposed to join us?"

"Well, Naruto," he said. "He is still a genin, but he's a powerful one. His name is Saru, and he will be joining us soon."

"Why not now?" I asked.

"Because there are...things...he has to do." His tone indicated that it was a dropped topic.

"Kakashi," Sasuke said. "I think I've finally mastered what you've been teaching me."

I hadn't quite seen it yet, so I was curious. "Well, go ahead, Sasuke," Kakashi urged.

"Fire style: Roaring flame sphere!" he yelled. He cupped his mouth, and fire came out in an orb a little bigger than my rasengan. It was a yellow-orange color, and I didn't really see flames on it. But it shot towards a tree, and made a _huge_ explosion. I could tell it was a powerful jutsu.

"Good," Kakashi said. "It's a little small though." Sasuke hmphed, and turned away. Kakashi turned to me. "Naruto, let's see your jutsu."

I was tired from using up a lot of chakra training, and this jutsu required a lot of it. I summoned a bit of the nine tails chakra - but not too much - to help me.

"Wind style: shuriken tornado." I grabbed six shuriken, and jumped in the air. My chakra helped me rotate faster and faster until I became a tornado. I let out my shuriken, and they flew out in all directions, and they were extremely fast.

"Eh," Kakashi said. "Only six? It would be more effective to have more. And you were a little slow."

I hate when he criticizes me. But at least he criticized Sasuke too, right?

"I think that's all the training for the day, guys," Kakashi said. "Sasuke, I need to talk to you tomorrow. Meet me at the bridge at 9. Naruto, keep up practicing. You might be able to master that jutsu fast, but there's a way to enhance it. When you master it, come find me, and I'll teach you the next step. Have fun, boys." He disappeared, leaving Sasuke and I alone.

"I'm going home," Sasuke said.

"No you're not," I said. "I have to talk to you."

"About what?"

"That day when I woke up after our fight with Itachi and Kisame." Sasuke tensed up.

"What about it?" he asked.

"I heard what you said before I woke up." He gasped and turned around.

"How much?"

"I heard that you called me your best friend," I said, "and that you didn't want me to die. What's happened since then that caused you to pull away. We barely see each other, and you never talk to me. You quit the squad. What changed."

He turned away from me, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was crying. "I just couldn't handle losing to Itachi. I needed you to protect me. I will never need that again." With that, he left, and I wondered if I had made a mistake talking to him.

Later that day, I was talking to Sakura when Kakashi sensei found us.

"Oh, good," he said. "You're together. That'll make my job easier."

"What do you mean, Kakashi?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, we're on a date! Can you give us one night!" I yelled. I don't know why I was so upset, but I didn't like him imposing again. I didn't actually expect anything to happen with Sakura.

"Lord Hokage has decided that adjustments in the Chunin teams will have to be made. So far, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Shino, and you two are the only Chunin from your graduating class. That means that the three of you were on a team, and Shikamaru and Shino had a genin - Neji Hyuga - on their team. Well, another person has been made a chunin, and it has upset the balance of the squads.

"That mean," he continued, "that some squads will have to be rearranged. Sasuke had decided to rejoin Team 7 this afternoon, which prompted the shift in teams. If he hadn't, the new chunin would have joined our team, and we'd be complete again.

"Unfortunately, since Sasuke rejoined, it means that the teams have been switched up. The new Team 7 is me, Sasuke, Naruto, and...Ino Yaminka. Sakura, effective tomorrow, you will be in Team 8 - Asuma, Shikamaru, and Shino."

"What!" Sakura and I both yelled.

"Kakashi," she said, "why can't Ino join them? I mean, she's already worked with Shikamaru, so it should be easier."

"That would ordinarily make sense, but it won't work out," he said. "Unfortunately, because of your relationship with Naruto, it has been deemed unwise for you two to be on the same squad."

"That's stupid!" I said. "She's being put on another team because we're dating? That's so unfair."

"Naruto, if you two are on the same battlefield, your feelings for each other can cloud your judgement. It is what's best. A distracted team will not be able to accomplish successful missions. It would be one thing if you were a genin team doing Level C and D missions, but you're chunin. You do A and B ranked missions. It's too dangerous to have two people together on a battlefield who love each other. I'm sorry."

As Kakashi walked away, I turned to Sakura. I couldn't tell if she was hurt or pissed.

"One more thing," Kakashi said, without turning around. "Naruto, meet me at the bridge tomorrow." With that, he walked away.

OoOoOoOoO

Sasuke and I were the first to arrive at the bridge. It seemed Ino had the same body clock that Kakashi had.

"Naruto," Sasuke said. "I have a question for you."

After finding out Sasuke rejoined the team, I went to talk to him. I was upset that having Sasuke meant losing Sakura, but I understood, and in a way I was relieved. I knew that if I was in trouble on the battlefield, Sasuke _could_ save me if he tried, but Sakura might not have the power to do it. He told me that I had convinced him to join Team 7 again, and he told me that he was sorry about being distant.

"What is it, Sasuke?" I asked.

"How did you master the shadow clone jutsu so fast?" he asked.

"Well," I said. "I shouldn't have. The only reason I was able to was because I stole the scroll of sealing."

"No way," he said. "If you stole it, you'd be in prison, not be a chunin."

"It was really Mizuki's fault. He manipulated me to get it. That's why I wasn't punished."

Before Sasuke could respond, we both heard the shriek that I'm sure Sasuke had been dreading for some time now.

"SASUKE!" Ino yelled from so far away, we could barely see her. But in an instant she was right as Sasuke's side, harassing him. "Sasuke! It's so nice to see you! I was so excited when I heard I'd be on your team!"

"Will you quiet down!" Sasuke said. "I have a headache."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ino said. Jeez, it was _just_ like Sakura was until recently. I can't believe I have to deal with that again. Luckily, we didn't have to, because a minute later, Kakashi appeared.

"Ah, hello Ino, Naruto, Sasuke," he said. "Glad to see you're all here. We should get going."

"Going where?" I asked.

"We have a mission," Kakashi said. "After our success at killing Kisame Hoshigaki, we have been assigned a new mission. We have been asked by Lord Raikage of the Village Hidden in the Clouds to help him. His son, Mishikajiki Yotsuki has been kidnapped by Sound shinobi, hoping to invite war from the Cloud Village. As the Cloud's ally, our mission is to find and kill the kidnapper, and escort Mishikajiki back to the Cloud village. In doing so, we will prevent another Great Shinobi War."

"Why do _we_ have to help, though?" Ino asked. "Aren't there other villages who can help? And why don't they just do it. They have shinobi too."

"The most recent development is that the Sound shinobi have taken Mishikajiki to a town in the Land of Fire. For another shinobi other than the Leaf village to enter is a breach of the treaty."

"Where are they?" I asked. "What village?"

"A village called Kagero," Kakashi said. "It's on the outskirts of the Land of Fire, near the border to the Land of Sound. Ideally, to get from the Land of Fire to the Land of Lightning, where the Hidden Cloud Village is, we'd have to go through the Land of Beasts and the Land of Shadows, but there are no Shinobi villages in those countries. It would be a very simple mission. But with the way we have to go to collect Mishikajiki, we'd have to go through the Land of Sound, meaning we might run into Sound shinobi."

"Orochimaru," Sasuke said.

"Possibly Orochimaru and Kabuto, yes," Kakashi said. "Or possibly the Sound Four."

"The Sound Four?" I asked.

"A group of ninjas handpicked by Orochimaru. They are the four most powerful shinobi in the Sound Village, and can take on Kage level opponents."

"Well," I said. "Let's get this squirt and hightail it to The Cloud Village."

"There's one more thing," Kakashi said. "I won't be going with you."

"What!" Ino shouted. "It's my first mission with you guys and the sensei doesn't even want to be there!"

"With Mishikajiki with you, there will be four people. Any more would risk a mission. I will be leading a squad of genin who will trail after you until after you get past the Sound Village. From there, it should be easy. But you have to leave now. Soon, Mishikajiki's kidnappers might bring him into the Land of Sound, which will make things much harder."

"Right," Sasuke said. "We'll leave now." With that, Kakashi left us ten minutes to prepare before meeting each other at the gates to the Hidden Leaf Village. After we were prepared, we set out.

It was an uneventful two days until we reached Kagero. We started looking for the shinobi who kidnapped the kid. We saw a picture of him, and we had his name - Shika Nijioaku. He was supposed to be a pretty powerful ninja. We began looking in hotels and the like, but we had no success.

"We should probably split up to find him," Sasuke said.

"No way, Sasuke!" I said. "Remember when we split up looking for Kisame? If you hadn't left Kakashi to find Sakura and I, we would have died. We'll do this together."

"Why don't we look in the woods," Ino said. "If he's a sound shinobi, he wouldn't take a kid that he kidnapped to a hotel. He might have a camp set up outside the village."

"It does make sense," Sasuke said. "Let's get to it."

We began looking around, until we came across two people - an old woman and her granddaughter, who was about Kakashi's age.

"Have you seen a sound ninja or a kid around here?" Sasuke asked. The granddaughter's eyes shifted to her grandmother for a second, but the grandmother answered.

"We haven't seen anyone. We're out here looking for herbs for my apothocary."

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am," Ino said, and the three of us began to leave, but Sasuke pivoted on his foot and threw a kunai at the grandmother.

"Sasuke!" I yelled.

"It's them," he said. "Using a transformation jutsu."

The grandmother chuckled. "I see you've figured us out, have you? Is that the best the cloud village can do for their Raikage's son? Three leaf village kids?" She turned into a sound ninja, and she sent a wave of sound at the granddaughter, who transformed into a ten year old boy. The wave sent him flying toward a tree that he was bound to by the sound.

"Hey, you better watch yourself," Ino said. "We're chunin."

"I don't care if you're ANBU," he said. "I'll kill you." He took out eight senbon. He threw them in the air. "Sound style: senbon decibal attack!" He threw the senbon at Ino, who dodged them. She stood, victorious over the attack, before falling to the ground, clutching her ears and yelling. "You see," he continued, "you have no chance against the power of sound."

"Oh yeah?" I said. I did my handsign. "Multi-shadow clone jutsu." Hundreds of shadow clones appeared, and ran at him.

"Your shadow clones are no match for me. He send a sound wave just like the one he used on Mishikajiki against my clones. They all disappeared because of the ferocity of the attack.

"Sharingan!" Sasuke said. His eyes turned that red with the black symbols on it. He began to charge up his chakra for the chidori. His arm began to glow blue-white, and he ran at the sound ninja. The sound ninja took out a sword.

"Sound Style: Sound Blade!" he yelled. His sword hit Sasuke's chidori, and they stood at a stalemate for a few seconds. By this time, I had gotten back up from his sound wave attack. Then, the sword emited a high pitched sound. I could hear Sasuke stop breathing. He fell back, and his ears began to bleed.

"Sasuke!" I yelled. I watched as he fell to his knees.

"Now, I kill him," the sound ninja said. He took out four senbon that dripped with poison. He aimed and threw at Sasuke's body.

**Author's Note: Hehehehe…I'm going to leave you a little cliff hanger. What will happen to Sasuke? Will they complete the mission? Without Sakura on Team 7, will Naruto give up on her? Read the next chapter to find out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: This isn't as long as the last few chapters, but I have good reason. I love it when you guys review, and I've been getting mostly positive reviews by everyone. Without further ado, I give you chapter five. I warn you, it picks up in the middle of the battle from the last chapter, so you might want to reread it if it isn't fresh in your mind.**

Chapter Five:  
The moment was so surreal. One minute, I was down and out, and the next, I was up and ready to protect my teammate. It was as if the senbon he threw were in slow motion as I rushed to protect him.

I couldn't just let him kill Sasuke. I jumped in front of the senbon, taking the blow for him, just as I did when Itachi was attacking him. I didn't have much time to think of a plan. I had to act, so I did the most logical thing, and preformed a substitution jutsu. A log with the senbon still in it replaced my body, while I came from behind the ninja and made another shadow clone.

As my shadow clone began a rasengan, I (the real me) slipped away without being noticed.

"Another short range attack?" he asked. "You leaf ninja must be stupid."

My clone ran towards the ninja, who used his sword again. I took my chance. I ran behind the ninja, and did a few hand signs.

"Wind style: Shuriken Tornado!" I yelled. I jumped in the air and began twisting the air around me. I took out three shuriken and threw them into the storm that was forming around me. The only downside about this technique was that because of the storm, it took a lot of chakra to make the shuriken hit the mark. But if they did, the speed that the wind gave them made them almost impossible to survive.

The first shuriken hit its mark - the ninja. The second one accidentally hit my clone, but it didn't matter. All of a sudden, the ninja exploded in a flash that emitted a loud sound. It must have been some sort of sound clone, because I fell to the ground, clutching my ears. I threw up before falling to the ground and fainting.

"Naruto!" was the next thing I heard when I woke up. I found Ino standing over me. "Naruto, thank god."

"Where's Sasuke? Where's the sound ninja? Where's Mishikajiki?"

Sasuke is out cold. He is stable - for now. The sound ninja made some sort of sound clone, and he went back to his village. Mishikajiki is over there." She pointed to the corner, where a boy was.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

"He's fine. Now that you're awake, you can take care of Sasuke. I don't know what to do."

I got up and saw Sasuke. I knew how to take care of this issue - Jiraya taught me a few months ago after the Sand Village/Sound Village invasion. He wanted to prepare me for any future Sound attacks.

I walked over to Sasuke and bent over him. I took a kunai and cut Sasuke's hands.

"Naruto!" Ino yelled. "What are you doing!"

"I'm helping Sasuke!"

"Helping Sasuke! How -"

Before she could finish her sentence, Sasuke's eyes opened and he took in a huge gasp of air.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Ino, find me something to wrap his hands with."

"Got it!" she said. She left me and Sasuke to get our stuff.

"The sound ninja retreated, and we have Mishikajiki.

"You save me, again," he said.

"You'd do the same for me," I said.

"It doesn't matter. You've saved me twice, and I just keep getting in trouble. I will _not_ let you save me again."

"Sasuke," I said. "I'm your teammate! I'm supposed to help you."

"And I'm supposed to not be so useless," he said.

"You're not useless, Sasuke. You know that," I said. He turned away. "This isn't the time to feel sorry for yourself. Tomorrow we'll be in the Land of Sound. And I'm sure with our luck, we'll end up in a battle. We need to be at our best."

Just then, Ino returned with bandages. She wrapped up Sasuke's hand. We decided that the four of us would return to the village and eat.

"So Mishikajiki," I said. "Are you okay? Did the sound ninja hurt you?"

"Not really," he said. "I'm fine. I just want to go back home."

"Don't worry, Mishi," she said. "We'll get you home soon, okay?"

He smiled a little bit, but I could tell that he was sad. We ate in silence, and we went back to the hotel, and rested up.

The next day, we left the village, and reached the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound. We crossed it, and decided to take the long way, as to stay away from the Hidden Sound Village. 

OoOoOoO

We continued through a forest, which quickly turned into a plain. We were making good time, and we might even get through the Land of Sound with relative ease.

"I have a bad feeling," Sasuke said when the grass stopped and we reached a desolate wasteland. "Sharingan!" He activated his sharingan again, and looked around. "Be prepared for a fight."

We continued to walk, when I saw a senbon out of the corner of my eye flying right towards me. I dodged it, and Ino and Sasuke stopped.

"Ino," Sasuke said. "Take Mishikajiki and run." I did a shadow clone jutsu to give her two Narutos to help. That's when they revealed themselves. We were face to face with Orochimaru, Kabuto, the sound ninja who had Mishikajiki to begin with, and the Sound Four. We were outnumbered and outmatched. "Naruto," Sasuke continued, "we just need to hold out until Kakashi gets here." I nodded, and we turned to our enemies.

"Jirobo, Kidomaru, Tayuya, Sakon," Orochimaru began to order. "Stop the girl." The Sound Four left, leaving us facing a powerful sound shinobi, a leaf ninja spy, and a sannin. They pulled out all the stops.

"Ah, Sasuke," Orochimaru said. "I was hoping to see you again. It's been a while since I've battled someone with as much potential as you. This should be interesting."

Kabuto charged at me, while the sound shinobi who's name I still didn't know went at Sasuke. I couldn't really pay much attention to their battle, because I was focused on mine.

"Naruto," Kabuto said. "It's going to be nice defeating you." His hand glowed blue, and he came at me. He hit me right in my gut, so I used the substitution jutsu. I came from behind, and he dodged me. I used my multi-shadow clone jutsu before he could get me. I decided on using the Uzumaki barrage. I was able to overwhelm him with my numbers, but as I was kicking him into the air, he turned the tables.

"Body Flame Jutsu." His body slowly disappeared as fire engulfed him. He reappeared on the ground with a smile. He pushed his glasses up on his nose. He ran into my mob of clones with his blue glowing hand, and he defeated them all! This was coming from a guy who was never able to make it through the chunin exam!

"Your turn, Naruto Uzumaki!" he yelled. He ran to me, and aimed at my heart. I turned at the last second, and he got my shoulder. I fell to the ground.

"Naruto!" I heard Sasuke yell. Then he screamed in pain. I looked and saw the curse mark take over his body. Shit! We were done for. But instead of trying to calm down his curse mark, he stood back up.

"Fire Style: Fire Tornado!" Sasuke yelled. I saw him do my wind tornado jutsu, but the tornado was made of fire! And it must have been at least ten times as powerful. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flame Jutsu!" he yelled. Fire balls began to be emitted from his tornado in all directions, one striking the other sound ninja, while Kabuto escaped the wrath. "Fire Style: Flaming Kunai Jutsu!" he yelled. Just as I had done with shuriken, he released flaming kunai from his vortex of fire. A flaming kunai was on track to hit Kabuto, but he disappeared before being hit, reappearing at Orochimaru's side.

Sasuke's fire vortex began to lower, and he was still in his curse mark form. I got up and activated the fox's chakra. I began my rasengan, while Sasuke in the curse mark began his chidori. He ran at Orochimaru, while I ran at Kabuto. We were going to hit them – and kill them, but before we could get to them, Tayuya and Sakon had appeared in between us and our targets, taking the blow for them. I could tell that both of our power was too much, and they fell immediately. I guess that's why they were Orochimaru's body guards – to protect him at all costs.

Sasuke and I jumped back to regroup. "Sasuke, use your new jutsu. I know what I'm going to do." I bit my thumb and put it to the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" I yelled. I brought Gama this time, wearing some armor and weilding a small sword.

He looked around at our surroundings, and understood why he was summoned without needing any information. Meanwhile, Sasuke told me to move away to give him room. Gama and I decided to give him as much room as he needed.

"Fire Style: Roaring Flame Sphere!" he yelled. If the orb that he released with me and Kakashi was the size of my rasengan, this one was the size of a meteor. It flew straight into Orochimaru and Kabuto. The entire area was shrouded in smoke, and there was fire everywhere. I couldn't see if it hit, and neither could Gama.

The smoke and debris covered the whole area, and I knew one thing – the only way Orochimaru and Kabuto survived that was if they had disappeared before it hit. There was no surviving this jutsu. What I was more concerned with, though, was that through the smoke, I couldn't see Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" I yelled. "Wind Style: Tornado of death!" I used my wind jutsu to clear the smoke and put out the flames. I saw Sasuke on the ground, the mark covering his body as he writhed in pain. I saw Ino and Mishikajiki headed towards us with Kakashi, bushy brow, Neji and Kiba and Akamaru. Those must be the genin he brought along. I couldn't see Orochimaru, Kabuto, Kidomaru, or Sakon on the field. They must have fled.

I ran over to Sasuke, who was writhing in pain. I ripped open his shirt like I've seen Tsunade do, and I dived into my seal. I went to the prison inside me where the Nine-Tailed Fox was held.

"I need you to help me heal my friend," I said.

"Why should I help you?" the Demon Fox asked with malice.

"Because I'm your master. You live within me. I control you."

"If you control me, then why don't you make me?" he said.

"If he dies, I'll kill myself and you," I said. I really hoped that the fox would take the bluff.

"You're bluffing," the Fox said. Damn. I guess he knew me as well as I knew myself.

"Do you want to take the chance?" Maybe covering my bluff with a second bluff would help me.

The Fox took a while to think before giving in, and I used his chakra to heal Sasuke. In a matter of minutes he was back to full power.

"Naruto," he said. "Did you...again?" He was pissed. He obviously knew I saved him. Again. A Sasuke with a bruised ego was a Sasuke that I didn't want to face.

"No," I said. "You drove them away. You saved _my_ life. Thank you." I hugged him. I felt him tense up, but it was okay, because he was alive. The curse mark had receded, and he would be alright.

"Okay, Naruto," Kakashi said. "We are going to escort you to the border between the Land of Sound and the Land of Beasts, but after that, you are four are on your own."

We decided to camp out when we got to a forest. Sasuke and Kakashi went off to talk - presumably about the curse mark. Ino and Lee were talking. Neji was off training, and Kiba was playing with Akamaru. I needed to ask Kakashi sensei a question that had been bothering me for a while. I found Sasuke and Kakashi, but I didn't interrupt. I hid behind a tree because I heard them arguing.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to be part of this team!" Sasuke said. "It's too hard. Look at what happened today. I lost control because of what they did!"

"Sasuke," Kakashi said. "I think that if you just tell Naruto -"

"He's with Sakura. She had to leave the team because you were afraid feelings would get in the way. The exact thing happened today. How can you be encouraging this?"

I had no idea what was going on, but I knew it involved me, so I guess I was justified in listening in, right?

"I don't think Sakura and Naruto will be together for long," Kakashi said. That made me mad. I was about to reveal my presence, but then Kakashi continued. "I think the likes the idea of dating Sakura, but he doesn't really like doing it. I saw them on a date, and he kept her at arms length. They barely kissed. I doubt anything has gone further, and I don't think it will."

I wanted to yell at Kakashi for what he was saying, for him to butt out of my business, but I knew it was true, deep down inside. Sakura was more like a sister to me than a girlfriend. But what did our relationship have to do with Sasuke and Kakashi?

"It doesn't matter. You might be wrong, but even if you're not, there's no guarantee that he'd –."

"There's never a guarantee in life, Sasuke," Kakashi interrupted. "You have to take chances. Especially in love."

"What do you know about love, Kakashi?" Sasuke demanded. "How can you even talk to me about love? You don't understand. It's a moot point. Even if you were completely right about Naruto and I, we wouldn't be able to be on the same team if we..." He trailed off. This part was the most confusing part of the conversation. There was obviously something that the two of them knew that would fill in the blanks for me.

"That's not true."

"It was true with him and Sakura," Sasuke said. "What's the difference?"

"Sakura isn't apt at battle," Kakashi said. "Before we left, I approached her and told her she might want to talk to Tsunade about being a medical ninja. Her chakra control would be good for it, but she's never been good at battling. You and Naruto complement each other in battle. You saw that today. Sakura knows chakra control and basic jutsu, but she doesn't know any advanced techniques or specialized ninjutsu."

"He keeps saving me," Sasuke said with contempt in his voice, effectively changing the subject.

"There are worse things in life than being saved," Kakashi said.

"He's always there," he said. "I will never grow strong enough to defeat Itachi if Naruto always has to end up saving me!"

"Why can't you defeat Itachi together?" Kakashi asked.

"I have to do it. I have to avenge my clan. By myself."

"I think you should tell Naruto, anyhow," Kakashi said.

"How could I tell him? He's with Sakura. We're on a mission. We wouldn't be able to work together if he knew that I loved him."

**Author's Note: Hehehehe cliff hanger. This chapter was shorter because I like to keep you waiting with baited breath for the next chapter. We had some action, some angst, and it'll only be a matter of time before the romance. Remember to review, pretty please. I'll buy everyone who reviews a virtual ice cream. With sprinkles. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own it. Yep. I do. I bought it yesterday…oh, I'm talking about my pack of gum. Yeah, Naruto isn't mine.**

**Author's Note: There is a reason I've classified this fic as an Action/Romance fic. The first part has a lot of angst and action, but as it goes on, we'll see romance. And now, you'll begin to see our little Naruto wrestle with his feelings. I also haven't been getting many reviews. I'd love to hear what you all think, so please just click that review button on the bottom? Only one person got ice cream for reviewing! **

Chapter Six:  
I don't think what he said really seeped in until I heard Kakashi's response.

"You never know, Sasuke. Maybe he loves you too."

I was frozen. Sasuke _loved_ me! That was impossible I was Naruto - the knucklehead of the Leaf Village. He was Sasuke - Uchiha, avenger, heartthrob of the Leaf Village. There was no way he loved me.

But he had said it. And Kakashi obviously knew about it. Everything started making sense. Why he was so upset when Kabuto almost killed me. Why he was crying when he thought I had died. Why he had left our group when Sakura and I started going out. He wasn't uncomfortable because he liked Sakura! He was uncomfortable because he loved _me_! And it couldn't be a coincidence that when Sakura left the group, he rejoined.

It all made logical sense, but it didn't at the same time. All the puzzle pieces were together, but they made the wrong picture. We were both guys. It couldn't really happen. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Sasuke was gay. That's why no matter how many girls fawned over him, he didn't care. He didn't want to be protected because he felt that being protected by me was like a girlfriend being protected by her boyfriend. He saw it as a sign of weakness! It was all fitting together.

But I still couldn't believe it. This was _Sasuke_. It wasn't possible.  
_Sasuke_ loves me.  
Sasuke _loves_ me.  
Sasuke loves _me_.

There was no way. It was like a wolf loving a sheep. He was my rival. My enemy. My teammate. My best friend. All in one. He couldn't love me. Not like that.

I was shaken from my paralysis when I heard Kakashi tell Sasuke that they had better head back to camp. Not trusting myself to not stumble and make them aware of my presence, I hid up in the tree as they passed me.

That night, I didn't return to camp. I don't know when it was, but at about 3 in the morning, I heard voices calling my name. First Lee, then Ino, then Neji, then Sasuke. _Sasuke_.

Of course, it was him who found me first.

"Naruto!" he yelled. "Thank god we found you."

His yell attracted the others.

"We were worried," Ino said, appearing out of a bush. We were soon joined by Neji and Lee. "Why are you here? We haven't seen you since we set up camp?"

Sasuke must have recognized that I was where he had been talking to Kakashi and gasped. "When did you get here?" he asked harshly.

I don't know why, but I decided to keep my eavesdropping a secret. "Just a little while ago."

"Why didn't you come back to camp?" Lee asked.

"He looks tired," Neji said. "Using the nine-tails chakra to use the rasengan, summoning jutsu, and then heal Sasuke must have really drained him."

I was glad to have an excuse. "Yeah," I said. "When I got here, I just kind of collapsed, and decided to rest a bit. I just woke up a few minutes ago."

"Can you walk?" Ino asked. I nodded. I returned to the camp, where Kiba, Akamaru, Mishikajiki, and Kakashi were sitting.

"I see you've found Naruto," Kakashi said.

"Yeah," I said. "I was just really tired after the battle, so I crashed by a few trees."

The others seemed content with my answer, but Sasuke was a little worried. I guess he thought I might have overheard him.

OoOoOoOoO

But by the next day, he had realized that he was overreacting, and I hadn't heard anything. We reached the border to the Land of Beasts, and Kakashi, Lee, Neji and Kiba and Akamaru left us.

We continued through the Land of Beasts with little incident, arriving at the Land of Shadows. It was a very creepy place, but again, we made it through without incident.

We reached the Land of Lightning, and we met up with a few Cloud Village shinobi. We gave Mishikajiki back to them, and we were paid for our services. We had lunch, before heading back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

We decided to take the long way to avoid the Land of Sound. We would go back through the Lands of Beasts and Shadows to get to the Land of Fire, but it would take longer to get to the village.

Our second time in the Land of Shadows was uneventful, but when we got back to the Land of Beasts, things started going awry.

We had set up camp, and had settled in. We started talking, and I couldn't help but look into every one of Sasuke's reactions whenever Ino came on to him. His body language sure confirmed my suspicions that he's gay.

I was about to broach the subject of what girl Sasuke likes (I needed some more evidence before jumping to conclusions…I might have heard his conversation with Kakashi wrong), when a fire arrow barely missed my head, and set fire to our tent and supplies.

Sasuke, Ino and I were ready for battle instantly. A single shinobi, wearing a Hidden Mist forehead protector, revealed himself. He was wearing a blue long sleeved shirt with a silver vest over it. He wore black pants, and had two weapons pouches on his legs. He also had two swords, which he kept by his waist.

"It's you," he said. He pulled out two small swords, holding one in each hand. Apparently, he knew who we were, but I had absolutely no clue as to who he was, although his swords and forehead protector made me think he might be a Swordsman of the Mist.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What do you want with us?"

"My name is Ishichi Hoshigaki," he said. "And I've come to avenge my brother's death. You killed him."

"Hoshigaki?" Sasuke said. "I guess you're talking about Kisame."

"That's right. And if you thought he was tough, wait until you see me." He pointed his swords at Sasuke before saying, "Fire Style: Flaming Swords of Death." His swords lit up with fire around them, and he came at us. We dispersed and surrounded him.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, while I preformed a Shadow clone jutsu. My shadow clones went at him, overpowering him. Ino threw a kunai at Ishichi, getting him in the back. In his moment of pain, Sasuke took the opportunity to use chidori against him. Right before he was about to hit, Ishichi used the substitution jutsu.

"You thought you could defeat me that easily?" he asked. "Lightning Style: Thunder Strike Blades." The fire went out, and his swords became illuminated with electricity. He jabbed it in my direction, sending a lightning bolt at me. Sasuke jumped in the way to take the blow.

"Sasuke!" I yelled. He fell to the ground, as Ishichi laughed. "Sasuke!" I yelled again.

"Now we're almost even," he said with a smile, as he faded away.

"Sasuke!" Ino yelled. "You'll pay for that," she said, turning to Ishichi.

"I have no time for a weak kunoichi," Ishichi said. "Especially since you weren't involved with Kisame. You can leave, and I won't follow you."

"I will not leave my teammates to fend for themselves," Ino said. She did a handsign. "Mind paralysis jutsu." Both Ino and Ishichi fell to the ground. I'd never seen this jutsu before. I was afraid to do anything to Ishichi. With the mind transfer, whatever happens to one happens to the other. I didn't want to hurt her, so I turned my attention to Sasuke.

I lowered my ear to his heart and didn't hear it beating. I began to do CPR, and eventually, he began to breathe. But he didn't wake up. I guess Ino's jutsu was wearing off, because I heard Ishichi grunt. I decided to get Sasuke to safety nearby before the Mist shinobi woke up.

When I got back, Ino and Ishichi had just started to be revived.

"You didn't attack him!" Ino yelled.

"I thought it might hurt you!" I yelled.

"What a waste of chakra!" Ino yelled.

"If you're done sniping at each other," Ishichi said, "I'll kill you now." He jabbed his swords towards me and Ino, and we dodged for our lives. "If I can't have the Uchiha, I'll just take you two." He continued, and managed to hit Ino's foot. She fell backwards with a yelp. She wasn't in as bad condition as Sasuke, but she couldn't run.

"Now, I'll finish you off," he said. He pointed it at Ino, and I threw a kunai to take the brunt of the lightning.

"No you won't," I said. "I will stop you." I began to use my Rasengan, but he was too quick.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Strike!" he raised the swords to the sky and a bolt of lightning came down on me. I barely dodged it.

He aimed his blades - one at me, one at Ino, and prepared to fire lightning again. We were done for. But then, I heard the familiar sound of many birds chirping.

"Chidori!" I heard Sasuke yell. He came from behind. He was able to throw Ishichi across the field. Ishichi picked himself up, but he was holding his arm in pain. Sasuke's attack must have done a lot of damage.

"I let my guard down," Ishachi said. "It won't happen again. I will leave for now, but I will be back. And I will kill you three, and those other two who fought Kisame with you." He sank into the ground, leaving behind an injured Ino, and a tired Sasuke. As for me, I was pretty beat.

"And now we're even, Sasuke," I said.

"I guess we are," he said.

OoOoOoOoO

In the aftermath of our battle with Ishichi, I had almost forgotten that Sasuke might be in love with me - until we reached the first town in the Land of Fire. Like usual, Ino got one room, and Sasuke and I got the other. Everything was fine until he took a shower.

It wasn't the shower itself, it was afterwards, when Sasuke came out of the shower and accidentally dropped his towel. We both blushed, but it was too close for my comfort. I took my shower and kept my towel tight around my waist. I got into my pajamas and went to bed.

After we turned the lights off, Sasuke decided to start up a conversation.

"Hey, Naruto," he said. "Are you in love with Sakura?" he asked.

This threw me. I didn't want to tell him a lie, but I didn't want him to think that I might be available. After the towel incident, I came to the conclusion that I probably heard right. All the evidence pointed towards it, but I can't imagine we would ever be together. "I-I don't...no." I can't believe I was going to say this. I had barely admitted it to myself. "I'm not. I don't really feel anything romantic towards her."

"But you're dating her," he said.

"I know," I said. "I don't want to hurt her feelings."

"You're going to have to tell her," he said. "Eventually."

"I know," I said.

"So is there someone else you have your eye on?" he asked. I could tell he was really nervous about talking to me like this.

"Not really," I said, honestly. I didn't want to seem rude, so I asked Sasuke back, my throat dry.

"Is there anyone _you_ have your eye on?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "But they don't return my feelings."

"That's too bad," I said. "Who is it?" The second I said those words, I regretted it. I knew what I had said was too far.

"I...I can't...I shouldn't tell you."

"I understand," I said. "But, Sasuke," I began.

"Yeah, Naruto?" he asked.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, remember, you're my best friend, and I can keep a secret for you, if you need it."

"Thanks, Naruto," he said. I eventually drifted into sleep, and didn't wake up until morning. I was pretty surprised waking up, as Sasuke was shaking me awake.

"Hey, loser," he said. I guess his love for me didn't prohibit the use of insults. "It's time to go."

"Huh?" I asked.

"You overslept. But we have to leave now if we want to get back to the village before sundown."

"Fine," I said. I got ready, and we left. It took all day, but we eventually reached the Hidden Leaf Village. I was still shocked about Sasuke, and I didn't know what to do. I needed to talk to Iruka.

As soon as we got back, the three of us went our separate ways. I went to find Iruka, Sasuke went to find Kakashi, and Ino went back to her house.

"So, Naruto," Iruka said when we finally sat down at Ichiraku's, "why did you ask me to have ramen with you?"

"I need to talk to you about something, Iruka sensei."

"What about?" he asked.

"I found out that someone likes me," I said. "And I don't know what to do."

"Who is it?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I can't tell. He doesn't even know that I know."

"_He_?" Iruka asked.

"Yeah," I said. "It's a guy. And I'm friends with him, but I don't know what to do."

"Well," he said, "you're with Sakura, right?" I nodded. "Then there's no problem. You won't return his feelings, and he'll eventually get over it."

"That's the second part," I said. "I have to break up with Sakura."

"What? Why?" he asked. "You've always had a crush on her. Now you've finally got her, so why are you breaking up with her?"

"I just don't feel it. Do you know what I mean?"

"Naruto," he said. "I'm going to ask you a question. Think about it, sleep on it. Do you not feel anything with Sakura because it's Sakura, or is it because she's a girl?"

"What are you saying?" I asked him.

"Is it possible that your problems with Sakura and the reason you're so upset about this guy liking you because you might be gay?"

"No!" I said. "I'm not...gay."

"Alright," he said. "I was just asking."

"I'm freaked out about him because he said he loves me, and he's on my team!" I yelled. Then I realized the extent of what I said. The only guy on my team was Sasuke. I guess Iruka picked up on it, because he gasped.

"Sasuke Uchiha is in love with you!" he yelled in a whisper. Fuck. There was no getting out of this one.

"You can't tell anyone, Iruka. I only know because I overheard him talking to Kakashi."

"Fine, Naruto," he said. "But think about what I said."

He left, and I finished my ramen. I returned to my apartment, hoping for this whole last week to have been a dream. I'll wake up tomorrow and Sakura and I will be perect, and Sasuke will be straight.

OoOoOoOoO

I woke up the next morning feeling like, well, shit. I couldn't sleep. The stress over Sakura and Sasuke and Iruka...it was just too much. I decided to go outside and train.

In the middle of my training, I realized that someone was there. It was Sasuke.

"Hey," I said. "Whatcha doing?"

"Not much," he said. "I wanted to know if you knew where Kakashi was."

"He's probably lost on the road of life," I said. Sasuke chuckled at Kakashi's frequent excuse. "Have you tried asking Guy, Asuma or Kurenai?"

"They haven't seen him. Where does he go everytime he's late?" he yelled in exasperation. "What jutsu are you working on?" he asked.

"I'm trying to do what you did. Making a fire tornado instead of wind."

"I was only able to do it because of my sharingan," he told me.

"Can you teach me?" I asked.

"You'd have to know how to do a fire elemental release," he said. "It's hard to do an elemental release that's not your own. Without the sharingan."

"Fine," I said. I turned back to my training.

"I'm going to go find Kakashi," he said.

"Alright, Sasuke," I yelled. "See you later." After another hour of trying to do a fire jutsu, I gave up, and decided to ask the pervy sage to help me. I was on the way to the Hokage's mansion, when I was interrupted by Sakura.

"Hey, Naruto!" she yelled. She came over. I couldn't stand not telling her that we couldn't be together anymore. I had to let her know. It was only fair to her.

"Sakura," I said. "I have to talk to you." I didn't really know how to go about this. I'd never broken up with someone before. Forgetting about the fact that I've had a crush on her since I could remember!

"About what?" she asked. Here it goes.

"Us," I said. "Sakura, I love you, but not in the way you think." I let out a breath. Now that I had taken the first step, I had no choice. There was no more backing down.

"What do you mean, Naruto?" she asked. Her voice was getting slightly shakier with each word she said.

"You're like a sister to me," I said. "I love you like a sister. Not as a girlfriend."

"Are you...are you breaking up with me?" she asked. I could see the tears begin to form in her eyes. I wish I could just take it all back before I said anything else, but I couldn't go back now.

"Yes, Sakura," I said. "I realize that we'd be much better friends than anything else. So what do you say? Friends?" I asked. I held out my hand for her to shake, but she just ran away, leaving my hand outstretched.

"Dude," a voice said behind me. "What did you _do_!" It was Shikamaru Nara. I didn't have time for him. "Did you just break up with Sakura?"

"Were you listening in?" I asked, angry.

"No," he said. "I just saw her run out of here crying like a bat out of hell."

"Mind your own business, Shikamaru," I said.

"Hey," he yelled, grabbing my arm. "Relationships are a drag, which is why I don't get involved with them. But Sakura is my teammate now, so what makes her upset can be detrimental to our squad. Get what I'm saying?"

I pulled my arm from his grasp. "I couldn't go on stringing her along."

"Why'd you do it? Did you cheat? You cheated with Ino, didn't you?" He looked pissed. Come to think of it, it was the first time I've ever really seen emotion other than boredom on his face.

"No!" I yelled. "I just don't see Sakura as anything more than a friend. Why would you care, anyway?"

"Listen, Naruto," he said. "You're my friend, but you can't just break up with Skaura. You might have just ruined our squad's chances at our next mission. If you didn't like her, you shouldn't have gone out with her."

"What mission?" I asked, more focused on that than his last statement.

"We're going on a A ranked mission in the Land of Rain tomorrow to collect intelligence about a possible alliance between the Hidden Rain Village and the Hidden Sound Village. We might be headed into danger, and we all have to be at the top of our game."

"There would always be a reason why I shouldn't do it," I said. "I just had to, before it was too late, and she was too far in. The longer we go out, the worse it was going to be. It's better this way." He rolled his eyes and walked away, but I'm sure I heard him mutter something about love being a drag.

I left Shikamaru there, and headed again towards the Hokage mansion. But before I could reach it, Kakashi found me. It seems I was very popular today. Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, and now Kakashi.

"Naruto! I need to talk to you," he said.

"Sasuke's looking for you on the road to life," I said, waving him off. I had been distracted too much. I had to see the pervy sage!

"I was busy in a meeting with the Hokage. I've already spoken to Sasuke.. We have a new mission. An A rank."

"What is it?"

"Another chunin squad is headed towards the Land of Rain to collect intelligence. We are going to be doing the same at the Land of Grass. We are concerned about some ties Orochimaru is trying to make." It was the same mission that Shikamaru, Sakura and Shino had.

"When do we leave?" I asked.

"We're meeting at the bridge tomorrow. At nine. Be there." With that, he disappeared. I left to find Jiraya before more people found me.

**Author's Note: Well, I hope that Naruto finding out about Sasuke's feelings lived up to your expectations. Please click that little review button on the bottom. There are some bad guys who kidnapped my dog, and they said that to get him back, I needed five reviews. I want my little puppy back. Review?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. –Closes his eyes and waits ten seconds–. Nope, still don't. Damn.**

**Warning: There is a very light scene between Naruto and Sasuke, but it's a Yaoi story, so you should expect it. Don't go crying to the people because you don't like it.**

**Author's Note: I'm sorry that this is late…I was on a long holiday for Columbus Day weekend, and I didn't write. Then when I got back, it took a while to write this, mostly because this is the first chapter in Sasuke's point of view.**

**I didn't have this chapter pre-written for a weird reason. I had originally planned to write a second fic, which would be this fic in Sasuke's POV, but I finally fleshed out how this story will end, and it'll be too long for me to do that, so I decided to put some other POV in the story to show what else was going on.**

**I've only written one other chapter outside of Naruto's point of view, but there might…scratch that…probably will be more, so I'll be sure to tell you when it's someone else's point of view. This one is in Sasuke's POV, which is a bit unusual, but I liked it.**

**I'd like to stress that this is NOT AU. There is a flashback to times in the academy, but for all we know, it could have happened. Sorry for the long Author's Note. Just read and enjoy (and review?)**

Chapter Seven:

I had never really known anybody intimately outside of my family. I had never even really known my family that intimately. My brother Itachi was always distant, and my father always shut me out in favor of him. I knew my mom the best, but even she sometimes felt like a stranger.

That's why when we passed a spiky haired blond kid on the street and she shuffled me away from him, I was very surprised.

"Sasuke," she said, "that boy is your age and will be in your class at the academy. I want your word that you will never speak or interact with him. Do you understand me?"

I nodded, a bit curious as to why she asked.

"He's a monster," she told me after I voiced my curiosity.

_A monster_. _How could he be a monster? He wasn't any older than me. If he did anything illegal, he'd be in jail. What was so bad. I mean, the most monstrous thing about him was his scars that shadowed his face like whiskers._

But no matter what I thought, I nodded, and agreed to never speak to this boy.

But after Itachi killed my parents, I began to question life.

I sat by myself during recess, everybody else playing some sport. Everyone but the spiky haired blond kid.

I was never really one to socialize, even before my parent's deaths. But I was in no particular mood to have anything to do with anyone so soon after the Uchiha massacre. Eventually, Ino, Sakura, Shikamaru and Kiba stopped trying to convince me to play with them. That's alright. I didn't need them anyway.

That's how recess – and any free time, really – went for months. I would sit and be consumed by my thoughts. It was quite unhealthy, looking back on it now. But I needed to escape my world.

"Hey," a voice said from behind me. "What are you doing here all alone?" I turned to face the voice, and saw the spiky haired blond kid.

"What are _you_ doing here all alone?" I asked.

"I don't have anyone to play with," he said with a sad look on his face. "Do you want to play with me?"

"My mom told me not to talk to you," I said. "She called you a monster." I saw his face fall. The prospect of losing a friend, shattered. The possibility of normalcy, gone. He turned to walk away, before I continued. "But she was wrong about…someone else...so she might be wrong about you."

He stood up straighter, and I couldn't tell, but I'm pretty sure he wiped a tear from his eye. Even then, seeing him that upset had an effect on me. I've made countless people cry, but he was the worst.

"My name's Sasuke Uchiha," I said. "Who are you?"

"My names Naruto Uzumaki," he said, a grin overcoming his face. "And I'm going to be Hokage someday."

"Yeah, right," I scoffed. "Only the best of the best gets to become Hokage. And I _need_ to be the best."

We talked, and talked, and talked some more. We spent an entire year just talking during recess. But then, when we began to mature, girls started to notice me. I didn't like them, but they fawned all over me. Naruto was obviously jealous of me. He stopped sitting with me when Sakura, Ino, and a bunch of other girls began to crowd me all the time. I couldn't care less…about them, that is.

Even then, I knew that I had deep feelings for Naruto.

When we eventually got on the same genin team, I remembered his animosity towards me for getting the attention. And I hated that he hated me. So I chose to hate him back.

If only it were that simple.

As I was on the edge of death in the Land of Waves, I realized that my feelings for Naruto went deeper than affection. I was alright with dying, if it meant he was safe. When I finally woke up, it took a while for me to realize exactly what I felt for him.

After his fight with Gaara during the invasion of the Hidden Leaf Village, we went on a few missions – just him, Sakura and I. One of them took us to a town in the Land of Fire, outside the village. We ended up using a hotel, and I shared a room with Naruto.

As he slept, I watched him. His chest rising and falling. He looked so peaceful. I knew I loved him then, and I couldn't let go of him. I felt a bubbling inside that I had never felt, and lust began to pour out for the first time in my life.

I am Sasuke Uchiha. I don't submit. I don't show my feelings. I make sure that I am the only one who knows my true feelings. If someone else knew, they could hurt me.

I had loved before, and Itachi took it away from me. I couldn't help but love again, but I vowed that no one would ever know. No one could ever take Naruto away from me. Not Gaara. Not Orochimaru. Not Itachi. Nobody.

He shifted in his sleep, and it knocked the covers off of him, revealing a flat chest. The lust inside me took over, and for the first time since my parents died, I was not in control of myself or the situation.

I crept over to his bed, and saw him resting comfortably. His features looked softer, more relaxed. I felt so powerless, and I hated it. He had the control, and he didn't even know it. He would never know it.

I am Sasuke Uchiha. I get what I want. I want Naruto Uzumaki. That is what was going through my mind as I touched his chest. I slid my fingers down his toned torso towards his belly button. He shivered under my touch, making me stop. I couldn't let him see me like this.

I slid my fingers back up towards his nipple, and I squeezed it. Naruto let out a gasp and a moan before turning to face me, still sleeping. His face was mere inches from mine, and the animal desire began to come out.

I pressed my lips against his. The kiss was nowhere near what I needed it to be, but I couldn't go further without waking the blond. He turned back on his back when I pulled away, and I noticed an obvious tent in his pants, even with the blanket over it.

He began to stir, so I made my way back to my bed, feigning sleep when he woke up. I told myself that I would never lose control like that again.

OoOoOoOoO

"So, Sasuke," he said, "do you wannna talk?" The grey haired jonin was seriously getting on my nerves. How the hell did he know when something is bothering me?

"No thanks, Kakashi," I said, "I'm fine.

"Really? Because I don't think you're fine," he said with a smile. "And I think I know the reason why."

"Believe me, Kakashi," I said, walking away. "You don't."

"Naruto," he said, stopping me in my tracks.

"I don't…I mean, I…what do you…what's Naruto have to do with anything?" I stuttered.

We were inside the Uchiha mansion after the mission, and I made it a point not to come out. Kakashi was just doing his thing – leaning against a priceless portrait of my father as if it was an ordinary wall. Sometimes I wonder if the man has _any_ boundries.

"By the way you stutter, I'm sure that I'm right," he said. Damn, his smile was even visible under his mask.

"I don't stutter," I said. The shock of Kakashi knowing something was up with me and Naruto finally faded, and I had my mask on again. I was really slipping if that's all it took to shake me out of it. "And my problems have nothing to do with Naruto."

"So you do have problems?" he asked. Damn. I was so focused on making sure I sounded convincing that I didn't think about what I was saying. "Care to share?"

"No." Plain and simple. Let's see him break through that.

"Fine," he said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "If you won't tell me, maybe Naruto will have more luck."

"Don't you _dare_ send him here to try to talk to me," I said with as much venom as I could muster.

"Well," he said, "you're going to tell someone, and you won't tell me, so Naruto seems like the best option."

"Why do you even care?" I yelled.

"Because I care about you. You're my student, and my friend. I've seen you grow up Sasuke. It bothers me when something is bothering you and you try to shut out the whole world. It doesn't help anyone."

Kakashi wouldn't tell anyone, right? Not if I told him not to. And it's better than him sending Naruto over. I know I can't control myself as easily around him. Something might slip out. Maybe telling Kakashi is the easiest option.

"I…I think…" I couldn't muster up the courage to tell him. For the first time, I was…scared? Scared of what? Scared of what Kakashi thinks? Scared that if I say it, it'll be real? Scared of being rejected. Scared of being a failure. Scared of being alone.

"Wow," Kakashi said with a frown, "this must really be tearing you up. I've never seen you like this." He sat down next to me.

"Kakashi, I…I think…I might be…" I clenched my fists. There was no way that that tear would be allowed to fall. I might be having a nervous breakdown right now, but there was _no way in hell_ I was going to cry.

"What?" Kakashi pushed. "What do you think you are?"

"I'm…" I took in a deep breath. "Gay."

"I know."

With all of the training that I've given myself at not showing facial expression, you wouldn't believe how easily those two words got me to lose that mask. I looked at him in a pure mixture of shock, confusion, and worst of all, fear. If he could tell, could Naruto? Probably not, because he's a dumbass, but could somebody else? Sakura? Ino? Shikamaru?

"What do you mean, you know?" I asked.

"I knew that you're gay, and I know that you have a crush on Naruto."

I know that you're supposed to respect your elders, and I usually do. But this situation called for extremes. That's why I let instincts take over, and I punched him square in the jaw, sending him falling to the floor.

He picked himself up, blood staining his mask. I must have hit harder than I thought. But how _dare_ he describe any feelings I had towards the blond idiot as something as girly as a _crush_. Just thinking about it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

"Was that really necessary?" Kakashi asked. "I know you're confused, but don't take it out on me."

"I don't have a crush on Naruto," I said with my patented Uchiha glare sent straight towards the gray haired man. How he brushed it off, I don't know.

"Whatever you say, Sasuke," he said. "If you ever need to talk about it, though, come find me." He left, just like that, leaving me alone to deal with my feelings.

"I don't have a _crush_ on Naruto," I spat towards no one in particular. "I…I love him."

OoOoOoOoO

From that day on, anytime I needed to talk to someone about Naruto, I talked to Kakashi. He was helpful at first, but then he started to try and play matchmaker. He'd pair us up, him and Sakura and me and Naruto to practice. He'd make sure Naruto and I got stuck alone. Naruto didn't notice any of this, but I did.

He began to push me to talk to Naruto about it. He'd tell me Naruto might return my feelings. No matter how silly it sounded, part of me would believe him, but I knew that I was wrong. Naruto was just as much a pervert as Kakashi and Lord Hokage. He came up with the sexy and harem jutsu for pete's sake!

Naruto would drool over Sakura. Well, he'd drool over anyone in a skirt, but he had a special place in his heart for her. He'd never get her, though, because she was too into me. How fucked up that was. The guy I was in love with had a major crush on the girl who's been practically stalking me for years. What could possibly complicate things further?

Oh, right. If they started going out. I tried as best as I could, but when they started dating, I couldn't handle being on the same team. My jealousy could easily take over, and I could hurt Sakura, or come onto Naruto. It was hard enough before they started going out, but being the third wheel added to it, and I couldn't stand it.

I knew Kakashi would understand why, so I didn't really blink twice when he just accepted me leaving. I knew Naruto and Sakura would try to stop me, but I didn't care. I just let them make their point and sent them on their way.

Kakashi still saw me daily. He told me that he wished I was still on the team, but I'd just 'hn', and leave it at that. I really wasn't surprised when he arranged for Sakura to leave the group with some BS excuse about distractions. I mean, he didn't have any problem with me being distracted by my feelings for Naruto. But he'd brush it off any time I tried to talk to him about it.

Underneath all of that, I had also lost to Itachi again. I needed to grow stronger. That's why I asked Naruto about learning the shadow clone jutsu, but he told me he only learned it illegally. Just my luck.

We went on a mission and we ended up fighting Orochimaru, and Kisame Hoshigaki's brother, Ishichi. We all survived, but it took a toll on us. It was during the mission that Kakashi decided to approach me about Naruto.

"Tell him, Sasuke," he said. It was three words, but I knew exactly what he meant.

"We've been through this, Kakashi," I said. "I won't tell Naruto how I fell. He doesn't feel the same way. He's as straight as they come."

"I wouldn't be so sure," he said.

"Really?" I asked. "He developed the sexy jutsu. What gay kid spends his time studying naked women?"

"He might have done it because of its effect on other people. He's successfully used it on the Third and Fifth Hokages, as well as Ebisu."

"If you think he made it to mess with you perverts, you're dumber than he is," I scoffed.

"You're not focused on the truth behind it," he said. "Just because he did that a year ago doesn't mean he'd do it again. A year ago, did you know you were gay?"

"Hn."

"Exactly," he said. "Look, it shouldn't be so hard for you to talk to Naruto alone. Sakura's not on the team anymore."

"Because of your manipulations," I pointed out. "This is exactly why I didn't want to be part of this team! It's too hard. Look at what happened today! I lost control because of what they did!"

Even Kakashi couldn't deny that. When Orochimaru had hurt Naruto, I had an overwhelming urge to protect him, and I unleashed power that I've never experienced. I could have killed anyone with that power.

"Sasuke," he said, ignoring my very good point. "I think if you just tell Naruto –"

"He's with Sakura," I said. "She had to leave the team because you were 'afraid her feelings would get in the way'. The exact same thing happened today! How can you be encouraging this?"

"Listen, Sasuke, I don't think Naruto and Sakura will be together for long. I think he likes the idea of dating her, but he doesn't really feel anything deep for her. I saw them on a date – he kept her at arm's length. They barely kissed. I doubt it's gone further, and I doubt it ever will."

"It doesn't matter," I said. "You might be wrong." He sent me a look that said _I know what I'm talking about_. "But even if you're not, there's no guarantee that –"

"There's never a guarantee in life, Sasuke," he told me. He came closer and put his hand on my shoulder. "You have to take chances, especially in love."

"What do you know about love, Kakashi?" I demanded. "How can you even talk about love? You don't understand. It's a moot point. Even if you were completely right about Naruto and I, we wouldn't be able to be on the same team according to your rules if we…"

"That's not true," he said.

"It was true with Sakura," I said. "What's the difference?"

"Sakura isn't apt at battle," he said. "Before we left, I approached her and told her she might want to talk to Tsunade about being a medical ninja. Her chakra control would be good for it, but she's never been good at battling. You and Naruto complement each other in battle. You saw that today. Sakura knows chakra control and basic jutsu, but she doesn't know any advanced techniques or specialized ninjutsu. She doesn't battle well, yet."

"He keeps saving me," I said. I don't know why, but I was determined to beat Kakashi. But even now, I knew he was right. I should tell Naruto.

"There are worse things in life than being saved," he said.

"He's always there. I'll never grow strong enough to defeat Itachi if Naruto always ends up saving me!"

"Why can't you defeat Itachi together?" he asked. I sent him a glare. He knew damn well why!

"_I_ have to do it. I have to avenge my clan." I stopped my glare and looked to the ground. "By myself," I added.

"I think you should tell Naruto, anyhow," he said.

"How can I tell him? He's with Sakura, and we're on a mission together. We wouldn't be able to work together if he knew that I love him!"

"Love?" he asked. I blushed, unconsciously. What was it about loving Naruto that made me lose myself? I blush, I lose my mask, my glares have lost their effect. I was really losing it. "You've never said love before."

"Well, I love him," I said. "And he doesn't love me back." I began to walk back to the camp, Kakashi following me.

Of course we couldn't find Naruto. He must have gone somewhere. All of us – Lee, Ino, Neji, and I – went to look for him. We left Kiba and Kakashi at the camp in case he came back. We eventually found him, but his location raised some flags.

He was in the same spot that Kakashi and I had talked about him earlier. Ino had also said that he left camp much earlier – while Kakashi and I were gone. Did he hear us? Did he know? He certainly looked distracted.

I spent the next few hours talking to him until I was pretty satisfied that he didn't overhear my conversation with Kakashi. We continued our mission, and nothing big happened between Naruto and I, but I still wondered, deep down, if it would have been better if Naruto heard me and Kakashi after all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, [insert funny joke here]…but that's not happening, so I guess I don't own Naruto.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay in chapters. This was kind of hard to do because I had to rewrite a lot (it really sucked before). It went from 2000 words to 5000 words, and I like the way this came out. Without further ado, I give you… **

Chapter Eight:

Jiraya had agreed to teach me how to use fire to enhance a jutsu of mine. It's hard to do a fire release, since I'm naturally a wind release, but it's possible. I need to concentrate my chakra at my fingertips, and continue concentrate until fire is made. Then, I produce a rasengan and combine it with the fire, for a fire ball rasengan.

I almost had a hang on it, but I couldn't quite combine the two jutsu. I trained for three days straight, but I still had no luck. I was getting extremely frustrated, and I went back to my apartment and went straight to bed, too tired to eat dinner.

The next morning, I woke up to see Sasuke outside my window. Shit! I forgot we had to meet Kakashi and Ino at the bridge this morning! I was _so_ late.

"Hey, loser!" he yelled. "Are you getting ready?"

"I'm almost ready," I lied. "Wait for me, I'll be out in a minute." I raced like a madman to get ready. It took me more like five minutes, but Sasuke stood waiting for me. We walked to the bridge talking about random stuff. I was so lost in our conversation, I didn't even focus on his feelings for me. For the first time, I wasn't fretting over it.

We got to the bridge first, and we continued our idle chit chat. About a minute later, we heard our perky teammate's voice. But it wasn't the shriek of 'Sasuke!' that we would expect. It was more of a growl. And it wasn't his name at all, actually.

"NARUTO!" she yelled. Sasuke and I stopped laughing at the joke he'd told when Ino came to the bridge. "What the hell were you thinking, you selfish, jerk!" She hit me over the head.

"Ow!" I yelled. She was really pissed, and I knew what this was all about. Sakura must have told her. But I had other problems than worrying about Sakura, namely the blonde girl who was eyeing me with intent to kill.

"Ino," Sasuke said, stepping between us.. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how he stomped all over Sakura's heart!" she yelled. She pushed Sasuke to the side to get to me, but I had gotten up. Sasuke grabbed her arm and pulled her back to prevent my murder.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked. She tried to pull away, but he kept a solid grip on her arm. I stood up and brushed myself off. I looked at Sasuke and decided he needed to know the truth.

"I broke up with Sakura yesterday," I said. "After I had seen you." He must have been really shocked because his eyes widened a fraction – which for an Uchiha is like his eyes bugging out of their sockets. He was so shocked that his grip loosened and Ino pulled her arm away from him. She sent me a glare before turning to Sasuke.

"Sakura told Asuma and Shino that she was too sick to go on their mission with them. They accepted it until Shikamaru told them that your _friend_," she spat with disgust, "broke up with her yesterday. Apparently, Shikamaru witnessed it all."

We were quiet for a few seconds, but it felt like forever. Sasuke was making sure not to betray his Uchiha mask. I saw him struggle to keep control. I wondered momentarily what was going through his mind. I was immediately reminded of his feelings for me, and I silently wondered how my life could get any more complicated.

I had always had a crush on Sakura, who'd always had a crush on Sasuke. I hated Sasuke. So naturally, the three of us were on the same genin team. When Sakura finally grew to like me and we started to go out, I didn't have the same feelings for her. Add to that that Sasuke was now my friend and he wanted to be more, and we have all the essentials for a soap opera. This kind of stuff only ever happened to me.

"Naruto," Sasuke said. "You...broke up...with Sakura." I saw his face, and he was shocked, even if it wasn't apparent to the naked eye. I learned how to read his body language a while ago.

Ino took a step towards me, remembering her anger. I backed away, but she had me cornered against the side of the bridge. I would probably have been hit another time or two had Kakashi not appeared to save me from my fate.

"Sorry I'm late," he said with an obvious smile behind his mask. "I was just lost on the road…of…life," he slowed down, seeing Ino's glare at me. "What's going on?" he asked as he turned to me.

"Naruto broke up with Sakura yesterday," Sasuke said, keeping his voice level and emotionless. "And Ino's pissed at him for hurting her." Ino balled her hands into fists, but Kakashi grabbed her wrists.

"What is it with men and grabbing my arms?" she huffed.

"Ino, stop!" Kakashi ordered. "If you can't be professional about this, then you will just have to stay behind with Sakura."

Ino pouted, and gave me a glare, but she stopped trying to hurt me, so I guess I made out well. Kakashi briefed us more detailed about our mission and told us to have a big breakfast, and we'd meet him at the gates to the village at noon.

Kakashi left the three of us alone. Ino sent me a glare – not as deadly as before – before turning on her heel and walking off.

"You wanna have breakfast with me, Sasuke?" I asked. I really wanted to know what was going on inside his head. Was he happy I broke up with Sakura? Did he care?

"Hn," he grunted. "Fine, but none of that ramen garbage that you constantly insist on shoving down your mouth." I crossed my arms with a huff, but he just rolled his eyes. "We can eat something at my house."

Throughout breakfast, he was quiet, and obviously deep in thought. He barely spoke the entire meal, a harsh contrast to him joking on the way to the bridge. I realized then that that wasn't the Sasuke I met a year ago. The Sasuke I met a year ago was very reserved, never showing emotion. I somehow broke his shell, his wall, and his mask (he had all three layered on top of another, or at least it seemed that way sometimes), and I saw the real Sasuke today. And I didn't even blink twice. It was as if he was normally that sociable and talkative. But once reality hit him, he hid behind his trifecta of barriers. When I finished my meal, I decided to drag him out of his little world.

"Hey, Sasuke," I began tentatively, "what do you think of me breaking up with Sakura?"

"Why'd you do it?" he asked.

"You know why," I said. "We talked about it."

"What I mean, dumbass, is why don't you have feelings for her anymore?"

"I…I don't know," I admitted. "I just don't feel about her the way I knew I should."

"You've been going out with her for a few weeks," he said. "How far did you two go?"

I blushed. "That's none of your business, asshole!" I yelled. "That's private."

"Really? _That_ far?" he said with sarcasm. "So I guess that means it wasn't because she was bad in bed." To say that his talk wasn't causing me to stop blushing was an understatement.

"Why do you have to do that?" I asked. "How come every time you show yourself – you're _real_ self, like this morning – you always crawl back into your shell? Why don't you want people to see the real Sasuke?"

"That's not the real Sasuke," he said.

"That's bullshit, and we both know it. I like the real Sasuke a whole hell of a lot more than the Sasuke that you hid behind – the one that shows no emotion, and doesn't open up to anyone. That Sasuke is an asshole, but the other one is pleasant to be around."

"There aren't two of me, dobe," he said.

"Yes there are," I said. "There's the one that you normally show to the world, and then there's the one I've only seen a few times. Like when I almost died fighting Kisame and Itachi. Why can't you show _that_ Sasuke more often?"

"Because if I show that side of me, I open myself up to pain, and I'll never do that again." He rose from the table and turned away from me. I could tell I got the real Sasuke to slip through the cracks. That was a total slip, and he knew Sasuke would never have said that to him if he hadn't pushed him.

That's it! He's just afraid of being rejected, kind of like me. He's afraid to fail. He thinks that if he opens himself up and admits his feelings or shows emotion, he'll be rejected, and he'll be all alone, just like when Itachi killed his parents.

I wanted to tell him he was wrong, but I realized that he wasn't too far off. If he ever told me the truth about his feelings for me, I would have to reject his advances. He'd never be the same around me. I was part of the problem – if not the whole thing.

"I think you should leave," he said, just as emotionless as before. I stood up and left without a word to him, knowing that nothing I could say would change the facts about the situation. He loved me, and I didn't love him – I couldn't…could I?

OoOoOoOoO

About an hour later, we met each other at the gate and headed off toward the Land of Grass. I know Kakashi sensed the tension between my teammates and I. Ino still hated my guts for breaking up with Sakura, and Sasuke was pissed because of what happened when we were at his house.

At about one in the afternoon, we stopped for lunch. We had made great time, so Kakashi told us we could take our time. The meal was pretty much silent with Kakashi trying to start up conversation with the three of us individually. He'd ask Sasuke how his training was going, and Sasuke would grunt an answer. He'd ask Ino how Shikamaru was (I had no idea what that was about), and she blushed. But I didn't care. I was too absorbed in my own mind.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled, shaking me from my thoughts. "Spacing out like that could be dangerous."

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei. What?"

"I asked if I could talk to you in private," he told me.

"Uh, sure," I said. Kakashi and I left Ino and Sasuke alone to find a place to talk.

"What's up with you and Sasuke?" he asked when we were far enough away.

"I'd rather not talk about it," I said. "Let's just say we had a fight this morning."

"About Sakura?" the jonin asked with his eyebrow arched. I knew what he was getting at, but he didn't know I knew.

"Not really," I said. "About him."

"What happened?" he asked, all of a sudden deadly serious.

"I told him that I liked him – the real him – better than the act he puts on for everyone."

"How did he react?" Kakashi asked.

"As well as expected," I said. "He exploded, and then asked me to leave."

He nodded, and we returned back to Ino and Sasuke, who were having a quiet conversation. I guess it must have involved me or Kakashi because when we got back, they shut up pretty quickly.

By dinner, we hit the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Fire. We decided to make camp in our own country before leaving. Dinner was quiet, and the three of us fanned out to train for a little bit. Sasuke and I returned to camp a few hours later, with Ino nowhere in sight. At about 10 pm, Sasuke approached me.

"So you really broke up with Sakura?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Why?" he asked. This confused me. He knew why I wanted to break up with her. I had told him on our last mission, not to mention earlier.

"But you know," I said. "Remember that night at the hotel? And at your house this morning? I told you that I didn't feel anything romantic towards her." He was acting weird, so it shouldn't have surprised me when he gasped.

I looked at the way he was standing - Sasuke would never stand that way. And he already knew the answer to the questions he was asking. Not to mention the fact that he should have been so pissed that he let down his wall earlier to talk to me – you know, his Uchiha pride and stubbornness. That's when it hit me.

"Ino!" I yelled. "Is this a transformation jutsu, or is it your mind transfer jutsu?"

She appeared as Ino again. I guess that means it was a transformation.

"Sasuke knew?" she asked, appalled. I guess that means they weren't talking about Sakura and I earlier while Kakashi and I talked.

"He's my best friend," I said, "Of course he knew!"

"What's all this yelling about?" Sasuke asked, appearing behind me.

"Ino transformed into you to find out why I broke up with her," I said, turning around to face him.

He looked at Ino with ice in his eyes. "Don't..._ever_...transform into me." He walked away, ignoring me. I guess I shouldn't have really been surprised.

"Sasuke!" she yelled. "I'm sorry!" she screamed, running after him.

"Naruto," another voice said, coming out of the shadows. "We should talk," Kakashi said.

We walked towards a small pond in silence. I couldn't tell whether this would be about Sakura or Sasuke. Maybe both?

"Naruto," he began, "why did you break up with Sakura?" Again with these questions! Wasn't my relationship with Sakura our business? So far, I've been harassed by Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, and now Kakashi, too. My response was so easy because I'd said it so many times in the past week.

"She felt more like my sister than anything else. I just didn't feel very attracted to her." We stood in silence for a minute, and I could practically see the wheels turning in Kakashi's head. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Naruto," Kakashi began, "are you gay?"

"NO!" I yelled. "What is this! First Iruka sensei, now you! Do I seem gay?" What was it with these people? I didn't give off a gay vibe…I hoped.

"Iruka? Why did Iruka ask you?" Shit shit shit.

"I...um..." I didn't know what to say. I guess I'd have to tell Kakashi about my eavesdropping.

"Back in the Land of Sound, after our battle with Orochimaru, I heard you and Sasuke talking. About me." I didn't want to press any further. If he didn't know what I was talking about, then I wouldn't help him any further.

"You know," he said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"That Sasuke loves me?" I asked. "Yeah, I know."

"Listen, Naruto," he began, "I only asked you if you were gay because of him. If you broke up with Sakura because you didn't feel attracted to _her_, then I'd tell Sasuke to get over you, but if you broke up with her because you're gay, then he might have a chance."

"Sensei," I said. "I'm not gay. And what do you mean about him having a chance? You want us to be together?"

"You could do worse," he said. "You both could." I blushed.

"As nice a talk as this was," I said with sarcasm, "I'm tired."

"Alright, then" he said. We began to walk back to the tents "Does Sasuke know?"

"That I know about him, or that I'm not gay?"

"Both."

"I hope he knows I'm not gay, but he doesn't know that I know."

"How do you feel, knowing that your partner, teammate and friend loves you?" Ah, that was the million dollar question. The truth is that I didn't really know.

"It was hard at first, but now I guess I accept it now," I said truthfully. "It's kind of weird, but I'll get over it. I have to, right?" He smiled at me.

We went back to camp, where Ino was fawning over Sasuke. Of course, he didn't return her affection. I felt bad for Sasuke, and for a second, I wondered what it would be like if we were together. I realized that it wouldn't probably be that bad. Kakashi was right – there would be worse people to spend the rest of my life with than Sasuke Uchiha. But I shook the thought from my head, and I went into my tent. It was also Sasuke's, but that didn't matter at the moment. I was so tired. I wasn't in bed for two minutes before sleep slowly began to settle on me.

It was about midnight when I heard the tent open. I kept my eyes closed, but I knew that it was Sasuke going to bed. As he lied down beside me, he sighed, and whispered in my ear.

"I love you, Naruto." He kissed my lips before turning over and falling asleep. I'd be lying if I said my heart didn't skip a beat. It just made me more confused. Why did I care? Combine that with my earlier thoughts about Sasuke and I spending life together. I seriously didn't know what it meant. The last thing I remember thinking before drifting back into sleep was that maybe Iruka and Kakashi were right - could I be gay?

OoOoOoOoO

We woke up the next morning like we usually did. We ate breakfast, and began to pack up camp. We traveled in silence, and arrived in the Land of Grass after a few minutes. When Kakashi said we were on the border, he wasn't kidding!

We continued in the same uncomfortable silence of yesterday until we stopped for lunch. I finished early, so I decided to train a little bit. While I was practicing my rasengan, I saw a little kid out of the corner of my eye. He was all alone, and he was crying at the base of a tree.

"Hey, kid!" I called out. "What's wrong?" He looked up at me before looking back down into his hands.

"I...sniff...ran away...sniff...from home," he cried.

"Come with me," I said. I couldn't do anything about this kid, maybe Kakashi could. I held out my arm, and he grabbed it, pulling himself up. We started to return to the campsite, where everyone was packing up. They turned around and saw the crying boy with me.

Ino's maternal instinct must have kicked in, as she ran over to the little boy and put an arm around him. "How did you get those bruises?" she asked. It was the first time I noticed the bruises. He had brown hair and big, matching eyes, but one of his eyes was blackened. Not to mention marks on his arms and wrists as if somebody had grabbed him roughly. I noticed a cut on his cheek and there was some dried blood on his shirt.

"Daddy...sniff...was upset...sniff...because I told him...sniff...that I didn't want to be a ninja."

I wasn't very good at this kind of thing, so I just watched and let Kakashi and Ino try to get the boy to tell us what happened. We learned that his name was Aniko and he was eight. I was so wrapped up with the boy, that I almost forgot Sasuke was there until I heard a low grunt that was too soft for anyone else to hear. I looked up at him, and saw him eyeing the boy suspiciously.

"Sasuke," I said. "What's with the look?"

"Those bruises he has," he said, "they aren't in places that are easy for another person to attack and leave a bruise. The way the bruises are on his wrists, they look self inflicted And a cut on his thigh looks too deep to be real. If it was really that deep, he'd be dead by now. It just doesn't add up to me."

"I think Kakashi would know if something was up," I said, and I walked over to Aniko, Kakashi, and Ino. We decided to take Aniko with us to the first town we found. As we were walking, I heard a whisper from Sasuke.

"Sharingan," he whispered. I turned in his direction to ask him why he activated it, but he turned around. Then, he jumped swiftly right behind me, holding a kunai. The clang of metal was all too familiar. Someone threw a kunai at me, and Sasuke knocked it away.

"Ino," Kakashi said, taking notice. "Take Aniko somewhere safe."

Kakashi, Sasuke and I turned to our attacker. I wasn't surprised to see that it was Ishichi – he did say he'd come after us again.

"You little brats got away, last time," he said, pulling out three senbon. "You won't be so lucky this time. I took notice of your skills – you're no match for me." He ran at me, and threw the three senbon at me. Sasuke jumped in front of me, taking the hit in his arm. He pulled them out.

"It'll take more than a few senbon to get me," he said. Then, Kakashi and Sasuke both begun their chidori and charged at Ishichi. Ishichi turned himself into mist, and reappeared behind me. He took out a few more senbon and threw them at me. I dodged out of the way.

"Wind Style: Shuriken Tornado!" I yelled. I spun in the air, minus creating the tornado around me, and threw out shuriken. A new trick Jiraya taught me was how to increase my accuracy using chakra. The shuriken flew towards Ishichi, who jumped to dodged them.

"Fire Style: Roaring Flame Sphere!" Sasuke yelled. The orb wasn't nearly as big as it had been with his curse mark, but it was bigger than it usually was. The orb exploded, but I guess Ishichi used his mist technique to disappear. The three of us faced him again after he appeared behind us. I began to build up my chakra in the form of fire in my hand. It was working! In seconds, with the Fox's chakra, I had a flame coming out of my palm. I just needed to do the rasengan and combine them now.

"Fire Style: Flaming Rasengan!" I yelled. It took a few seconds to gather up my chakra, but I was able to do it. Instead of the light blue color, it was an orange color. I charged at Ishichi, and I hit him! He flew back into a tree, which then caught on fire.

What happened next was a blur. I turned around to face Sasuke and Kakashi, and I saw Aniko standing behind my sensei with a kunai. He aimed and threw.

"Kakashi sensei! Look out!" I yelled. The next thing I saw was Kakashi spitting out blood. Aniko smiled, and transformed into Ishichi.

_A Mist Clone! Sasuke was right not to trust him – he was Ishichi in disguise._

Kakashi fell to his knees, and Sasuke threw a shuriken at the clone, who evaporated. We turned back to the real Ishichi.

"Now that your sensei and the bratty girl are out of the way, I can take care of you two," he said. He did a hand sign. "Hidden Mist Jutsu!" A thick fog covered the area. The fire in the tree appeared to go out.

_What did he mean the 'bratty girl'? Wait, Ino was with Ishichi's clone. What did he do to her?_

"Naruto!" I heard Sasuke yell. He ran towards me, and found me with his sharingan. We stood back to back. "He's to your left, Naruto. Duck!" I did as told, and was rewarded with the sound of a kunai flying above my head. Then, I felt something grab my ankle. I looked down to see a wisp of mist holding my ankle. The mist itself was attacking me?

"Mist Seal Jutsu!" Ishichi yelled. The fog thickened around me, but Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

"Naruto!" he yelled again. "He's blocked me off from you. I can't see a thing! I'm outside the fog, but you two are trapped! I can't get in to help you!" That meant Sasuke was powerless to help me, and I had to face Ishichi alone without my sense of sight.

I felt power welling up inside of me, and then I heard an eerie voice. _Let me out to help you, kid. If you die, we both go down._

The Nine Tailed Demon Fox wanted to help me. I didn't know what to do except let him. My body made a hand sign without my mind telling it to. Then I spoke with the Nine Tails voice.

"Nine Tails Release: Scent of the Beast Jutsu!" I yelled. I felt a surge of power as the best let itself out. In all sixteen years of my life, I'd never experienced this power! I felt the sense of smell of the beast become mine. I felt a surge in chakra, and I knew I could fight now. I could tell exactly where in this sealed off battlefield Ishichi was. "Wind Style: Nine Tailed Tornado Rasengan Jutsu!" I didn't know where these jutsu involving the fox came from. It was like it was just in my nature to do it.

I rose to the air, the mist and air circling around me. I was raised into a tornado like in my shuriken tornado jutsu, but then, the tornado condensed into a ball in my palm. It was an extremely condensed rasengan, which must have been at least fifty times more powerful. The mist that was stopping me from seeing was all trapped in the ball with the air, allowing me to see my opponent. I ran at Ishichi with the rasengan.

"I see I've lost this, Naruto Uzumaki," Ishichi said as I came at him. His body started turning into mist. "I will find you again. And I will kill you. Someday." By the time I reached him, he was gone, and my attack hit the walls that kept our battlefield sealed away from the outside world. As the rasengan hit it, it felt like the world shattered around me. I saw nothing but light.

I woke up just minutes later, without a scratch on me. The healing power of the fox never ceases to amaze me.

"Naruto, watch Kakashi," Sasuke said. I didn't have time to ask him why before he left. He came back two minutes later with Ino's body, just as limp as Kakashi's.

OoOoOoOoO

Apparently, the mist clone had stabbed Ino before killing Kakashi. It was official. Kakashi was dead. I couldn't believe the sensei who trained me for a year was gone. He was so strong. How could this happen? He wasn't watching his back. He let his guard down, and now he lost his life. Ino, however, was still alive, but barely. She needed medical attention immediately.

Sasuke and I brought her to the Village Hidden in the Grass, which wasn't too far away. We were at first, told to leave, but we explained to their leader about the attack, and he allowed us, as allies, to let their hospital take care of Ino. They sent an envoy of the Grass village to the Leaf village to send word to Jiraya about Kakashi and Ino.

Jiraya sent Gama to us to tell us to stay here as long as we could until Ino was fully recovered. We knew he meant that we should collect as much information as possible until we had to leave. Kakashi's body was sent back to the village to be buried.

We knew Shikamaru, Asuma and Shino were somewhere around here, too. Shikamaru and Asuma would definitely want to see Ino. Sasuke found them while I was checked out at the hospital. Of course, I was completely fine, but he wanted to make sure. My chakra was kind of low, but that was the worst thing they found.

That night, Sasuke and I went to our hotel room in the middle of the village, and went straight to sleep without talking. He was taking Kakashi's death extremely hard – I understood because he was the closest thing to a father Sasuke had since his parents died.

I knew Ishichi wasn't done with us. He'd keep coming after us until we killed him or he killed us. He had already killed Kakashi, and Ino might still die. I briefly wondered if he'd go after Sakura, too, since she was with us when we fought with Kisame and Ishichi the first time.

In the middle of the night, I woke up to him crying. I got out of my bed and crept into his, wrapping my arms around him. All I could think about was how I'd feel if I watched Iruka die in front of me. He tried to knock me off the bed, but I told him that I wasn't going anywhere. He told me to leave him alone, but I hugged him tighter. He eventually gave up, and we fell asleep like that, and I woke up with my head on his chest in the morning.

**Author's Note: There, I gave you some fluff at the end ****. I wanted to ask you to review. Whether they're to give me constructive criticism or to tell me the story's great, I love reviews. So please, give me more. I feed off reviews like Naruto feeds off ramen. You guys are my Ichiraku. Please feed me.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I actually wrote this chapter from the state penitentiary. I tried to steal Naruto, and Masashi Kishimoto didn't appreciate it.**

**Author's Note: Wow, I got a lot of responses from the last chapter. Who knew all I had to do was kill Kakashi? I know it's a ballsy thing to kill characters, but I don't believe in death for the sake of death. Every death has an impact on the characters, and if someone dies, know that there was a reason.**

**Also, I'm sorry this took a few days to post. I had a rough outline of the chapter, but a lot needed to be changed around and changed. This chapter has a lot of stuff in it, and I hope you all like it.**

Nine:  
We had an unspoken arrangement for the next few days. We would share a bed at night, mostly because Sasuke had nightmares and is pretty vocal in his sleep. I guess all the emotion that he doesn't display has to go somewhere.

We never spoke about it, of course. His Uchiha pride would fizzle up in seconds if we verbally acknowledged the fact that he needed comfort. I could really understand, though. I was devastated by Kakashi's death, but he and Sasuke were so much closer. If I was feeling that bad, how could Sasuke even be able to get himself out of bed?

After the first few days, I should have stopped. But it just felt so…right. When I was with Sasuke, the world seemed to be right. I felt more at peace with him than I ever had before. And there was also the tingly feeling I felt in my stomach any time I was with him. I just passed it off as a weird feeling from the weird situation.

One morning, almost a week after we arrived in the village, I woke up to find my head on Sasuke's chest. Our legs were intertwined, and we were in the most intimate embrace yet. What was more shocking was that when I looked up, I saw the obsidian eyes staring back into my own.

"You're too heavy to move," he said, breaking our eye contact. Realizing how close we were, I pulled away and blushed.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"Hn, dobe." We laid in the bed for another few minutes before I broke the silence.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn," he grunted. I know it wasn't very verbal, but I knew he was listening, at least.

"What does this mean?"

"What does what mean, dobe?" he asked.

"You know what, teme!" I yelled. "We've been sleeping together like this," I gestured between the two of us with my hand, "for a week now. What does this mean?"

"It means you don't like to sleep alone."

I don't know why, but this made my blood boil. I tried to contain my rage, but the fucking teme was being such an obnoxious prick!

"Okay, listen, teme. I know you have some sense of Uchiha pride or something, but I don't give a shit. I only crawled into bed with you because you were bawling like a baby. Don't try to turn this on me."

"Nobody asked you to comfort me, dobe," he spat.

"I didn't need anyone to ask me to. I did it because I wanted to. Because I care about you."

"Why?" he asked, still not looking me in the eye.

"Why what?" I asked.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I lo –" I cut myself off. "Because you are my best friend."

Did I really almost say that? Did I almost just tell him that I loved him? Why would I say that? I don't love him.

Maybe I love him like a brother, I guess. He is my best friend…when he's not being an asshole. But that would still be a stretch.

"What were you going to say?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You were going to tell me you love me, weren't you?" he asked.

"No, I –" I began to say, but a weird sensation on my mouth stopped me in midsentence. It took me a few seconds to realize Sasuke was kissing me. I didn't have time to respond before he pulled away.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I'm going to see Ino," Sasuke said, leaving me all alone while he went to the hospital.

OoOoOoOoO

I couldn't help replay the scene over and over in my head.

_Sasuke_ kissed me.

Sasuke _kissed_ me.

Sasuke kissed _me_.

I've been doing that a lot lately. But between that and hearing him confess his love for me, I was more confused than ever. I just spent the day sitting in my bed, staring at the ceiling.

Jiraya sent word through Gamakichi that we didn't need to complete the mission. They already had Asuma, Shikamaru and Shino there too, but Sasuke and I had too much going on to think clearly, he thought. It didn't really matter what the pervy sage said – they wouldn't have been able to collect much information anyway.

Shikamaru reported to him that there were no leads on anything. The grass ninja were so secretive that he doubted they'd find anything. Shikamaru and Asuma also frequented the hospital. Shino was the only Leaf shinobi there that hadn't been on a team of Ino's at one point or another.

It was almost dinnertime when Sasuke came back, even quieter than when he left.

"N-Naruto," he said, when he got into the room.

"What? Do you want another kiss?" I asked, openly mocking him.

"Naruto, it's Ino," he said, not looking me in the eye. It was in that second I knew what had happened.

"No," I said. "No, no, no, no, no. This isn't happening." I shook my head violently. "No."

"Naruto," he said. "She's dead."

OoOoOoOoO

We stayed in the grass village two more days before they kicked us out. They didn't like us sniffing around, and without Ino, there was no real excuse to stay.

Ino and Kakashi…dead.

The last thing that Ino said to me was about me breaking up with Sakura. The last conversation was an argument. It almost made me regret breaking up with Sakura in the first place.

_Almost_.

There was still that nagging feeling whenever I was around Sasuke, so I just tried to avoid him. I wouldn't think of him any less, but it was awkward. He kissed me. And I didn't respond. He obviously saw that as a rejection.

There was a joint funeral for Ino and Kakashi the day we got back to the Leaf Village. It was a nice service, but they seemed too big to contain in it. How could Ino and Kakashi possibly be dead? There was no way. It all just seemed so surreal.

And underneath it all, was Sasuke. After our kiss, he'd begun to ignore me. The few times he'd have to talk to me, he'd barely look at me. It was hard for both of us, losing Kakashi and Ino, but it was even worse for me knowing that I may have lost my best friend in the process.

Sasuke and I didn't have a team anymore – how could we with half of them dead? There was a new chunin in the village, but Jiraya didn't put us on a team with him. After a month of sitting around the village wallowing in my grief, Jiraya finally got off his ass and decided to do something productive with me.

"Naruto," he said, standing in the doorway of my apartment. "We need to talk."

I let him in, and he sat down on the sofa. I got him some tea, and started dinner.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked when I sat down next to him.

"I'm going to be very blunt when I say this, Naruto," he told me. "Up until last month, I had been planning to name Kakashi the Sixth Hokage," he said.

"What!" I asked. "Why Kakashi?"

"Because, Naruto," he said, "I need to pick my successor based on who I think is the strongest ninja, who would put his life on the line to save the village. Kakashi was that person. I know you want to be Hokage one day, but you haven't honed in your strength yet, and so you're not ready." I clenched my fists at his assessment. He was right, though. I hadn't been able to protect Sasuke from Itachi, or Ino and Kakashi from Ishichi. "But with the recent developments, I have decided to name you my successor after all."

I looked at him, and I'm sure the shocked expression on my face made me look stupid. "But you just said -"

"With Team 7 disbanded, I will train you myself, until I believe you are ready to be my official successor."

I guess that answered the question about what I'm going to do without Team 7. But wait!

"What about Sasuke? Without Team 7, what will happen to him?" I asked.

"It's up to him. I hear Sakura wants to work with Tsunade and train to become a medical ninja. That means he can join Team 8 with Shikamaru and Shino."

Sasuke, Shikamaru and Shino. Something about that team made me shudder a bit.

"When do you want to begin my training?" I asked.

"After everything with Kakashi has settled down," he said.

"Alright," I said.

"We'll set specifics soon, alright, kid?" he asked, ruffling my hair. We ate dinner and talked for a little bit before he made his leave.

Not one minute after Jiraya left, I heard a knock on my door. I answered it to see Iruka standing outside the door, hands in his pockets.

"Iruka-sensei," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing…after Kakashi…" he trailed off.

"I'm doing okay," I said. "But Sasuke's taking it really hard."

"How is Sasuke?" he asked.

"He's shut himself in his house. Kakashi has been his only father figure since the Uchiha massacre."

"That's understandable," Iruka said. He took a long pause. "Have you thought about what we had talked about a few weeks ago?"

"What? About me being gay? I'm not gay, Iruka," I said. Although after today, even I was beginning to have my doubts. "Kakashi asked me the same thing. He wanted to know whether to tell Sasuke that there's a chance with me or that he should give up."

"What did you say?" he asked.

"I told him I was straight," I said. "Just like I told you."

"Alright," he said. "I'd just hate for you to lose your chance at happiness because you didn't want to admit that you were gay."

"I'm. Not. Gay." I growled through clenched teeth.

"Fine," Iruka said., holding his hands up in mock surrender. "If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask." I nodded, and he left. I couldn't handle this anymore. As if I didn't have enough to deal with, out of the three people who know me the best, two think I'm gay (or in Kakashi's case, thought it) and one kissed me! And I think I almost liked it! My life was hell.

I decided to go to the Uchiha house to see Sasuke. It was after dinner, so I figured he'd be there. I needed to clear things up with him before I went crazy! I ran to the Uchiha district, which had become open for anybody to move into after the massacre. I walked the rest of the way to Sasuke's house, trying to calm my nerves.

All of a sudden, I saw smoke coming from the direction of Sasuke's house! I sprinted over to find Sasuke's house up in flames. Outside of the house, laying perfectly in the ground, was a Hidden Mist Village forehead protector. I didn't even need to look at the engraving of his name in the back to know whose it was. _Ishichi Hoshigaki_

_How did he get into the Hidden Leaf Village?_ It was obvious that he had set the house on fire. I didn't even bother trying to find him. Instead, I ran inside the house looking for Sasuke. I couldn't find him on the first floor, so I went up the stairs. A burning beam fell on top of me. I didn't catch fire, but I was lucky. I pushed it off of me, and continued to search the burning house.

I went up to Sasuke's bedroom and I saw he wasn't there. The smoke started to affect me, and I began to cough. I continued to search the house, until the fire cornered me next to a window. I had no choice but to jump out of the burning building, praying that he was out. Shinobi had begun to notice the fire, and people began to put it out.

I needed to find Sasuke and make sure he was alright. I went to the place he liked to go to train with Kakashi, and was relieved to find him there.

"Sasuke!" I said, running over to him and throwing my arms around him. I buried my head in his shirt. "Thank god you're here!" I could feel tears escaping my eyes, but I couldn't care less. Sasuke was alright!

"Hn," he grunted. "What are you doing here, dobe?" he asked, pushing me away. I coughed violently, the smoke and my run to find him finally catching up to me.

"Sasuke, I need to tell you something. It's about your house." He looked up at me, confused. I coughed some more, before he sat me down and gave me some water. After I had a few sips, I continued. "Ishichi burned your house down."

Sasuke jumped to his feet. "He _what?" _The rage in his eyes was unmistakable. I coughed some more, causing him to forget his anger to help me breathe.

I nodded. "I saw it happen. I thought you were in there. I was so scared, I thought I lost you too."

"My house is..." he began.

"It's gone," I said. He dropped to his knees. And just stared into space silently for a few minutes.

"Then I really have nothing," he said.

"That's not true, Sasuke," I said. "You have me." He looked at me with anger in his eyes.

"Not in a way that matters. Not in the way I need you."

"What are you saying, Sasuke?" I asked. But I knew damned well what he was saying.

"I love you, Naruto," he said, tears threatening to form in his eyes. "I love you in a way you can never love me. I love you.."

I stared at him in silence, unable to say a word.

OoOoOoOoO

What did this mean for us now? I can't pretend I didn't hear what he said. I can't go back to ignoring his feelings for me. I can't just forget it. Everything was going to change.

So what did I say to his declaration of love?

"I know." He looked up with shock. I decided to continue. "I overheard you and Kakashi talking about it a few months ago in the Land of Sound." I took a long pause. "I don't care that you're gay, Sasuke. I don't mind that you kissed me. I don't even care that you love me. You're my friend - my best friend. So no matter what happens, I will be there for you. Which is why you're staying in my apartment tonight, and you'll stay there until you have a new place to live."

"I can't do that, Naruto," he said. "How can just sit there? I told you I loved you, and you just said it was _okay?"_

"I've had months to come to terms with it," I said. "It doesn't matter to me. So come on. We're going home." I took his hand.

"No thanks," he said, jerking his hand from mine. "I can take care of myself."

In the end, he was able to salvage a lot of money from the house. Enough to buy an apartment, at least. I sort of forced him to get one in my building across the hall from me. I told him Kakashi would want that, and he couldn't argue.

The next day, I went to Kakashi's grave to tell him about Sasuke's confession. Maybe talking to Kakashi would give me some clarity. But I guess Sasuke beat me to it, because when I got there, he was standing in front of his grave.

"I was wrong," he said. "I let love and affection get in the way of my goal, my destiny. I became weak. I need to be strong if I am to kill Itachi and restore my clan. I can't keep falling apart over you or Naruto. I hope you understand why I have to do this, Kakashi. I need to kill Itachi now, before I can even think about loving someone. Anyone." He stood up, placing flowers on the grave.

Something about what Sasuke said made me feel uneasy. _I need to kill Itachi now_. Was he leaving the village to find Itachi?

I left to go find Jiraya. Somebody had to know how to stop Sasuke. All Jiraya told me was that if Sasuke left, he'd be considered a missing nin, and he'd be tried upon his return to the village. I pleaded with Jiraya to understand, but he wouldn't have it. He warned me not to leave the village after him, but we both knew what I was going to do.

I was able to get myself into some of the files of missing nin that only the Hokage is allowed to see. I searched for Itachi Uchiha, and found that he was last seen in the Land of Wind. If I wanted to stop Sasuke, I'd have to find Itachi first.

I knew I had to start training to be Hokage soon, but I couldn't think about that. All I could think about was how I was losing Sasuke. And I knew I was partially to blame. I couldn't have said anything less cruel after Sasuke's confession? _I know._ That was really cold. I'd already lost Ino and Kakashi. I couldn't lose Sasuke, too.

Sasuke was long gone, and I couldn't tell anyone that I was going too. That much was clear. I needed to find Sasuke I packed up my ninja weapons and supplies for a week, along with a lot of money. On my way out of my apartment building, I ran smack into Sakura.

"Naruto," she whispered. "Where are you going?

"Sakura," I whispered back. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to...to talk to you. Where are you off to?"

It figures Sakura would know I was heading somewhere. She knew what I looked like when I would be around the village and what I looked like before going off on a mission.

"I'm going on a mission," I said, somewhat truthfully.

"I thought that without Kakashi-sensei and Ino, Team 7 was disbanded," she said. "Is Sasuke also going on this mission?"

"Sort of," I said. "I can't tell you much. It's really secret information. You can't tell anyone about this mission, okay?"

"You can't expect me to do that, Naruto," she said. "Not unless you tell me what's going on? What do you mean Sasuke is 'sort of' on this mission with you?"

"I really can't say, Sakura. I wish I could."

"Does Lord Hokage know?" she asked. Damn it! She was too smart for her own good. I was just grateful I didn't run into Shikamaru. That boy was such a genius that if he was here, he'd know what was going on by now.

"The pervy sage has no idea, and you won't tell him," I said through clenched teeth. "If you do, Sasuke and I could die. Do you want that on your head?"

"You can't just tell me that without telling me what you mean!" she yelled. "I care about both of you. I can't stand the thought of losing you two so soon after losing Kakashi and Ino."

"Then I guess you shouldn't tell anyone, should you? If no one finds out, we'll both come home alive" I lied. I left her standing completely confused. I'd lost too much time already. I had to go to the Land of Wind. I hoped Sakura's fear of us dying would stop her from telling anyone about the mission.

I took the long way out of the village to avoid being spied. I managed to do just that, and I was making good time to the Land of Wind. I made camp in the woods outside of Kunohagara Town, which was the halfway point between the village and the border. The traveling was very boring, being all alone. A part of me wishes I had asked Sakura to come along, but I couldn't drag her into this mess with me.

I set up camp and had my dinner. The bad thing about missions is that I don't have the luxury of cup ramen when I set up camp. I decided not to waste time and train some. If I had to fight Itachi, I wanted to be prepared. After a few hours, I was exhausted, and I went to sleep early. You know what they say? Early to bed, early to rise.

That night, I had a dream - maybe a nightmare. I finally found Sasuke, but before I could reach him, he turned into a hawk and flew away. Then I saw him, Orochimaru, Itachi and Ishichi all standing in a field of grass. The three ninja were attacking Sasuke. With each hit they landed, I felt a sharp pang in my chest.

"You fool," Orochimaru said to Sasuke. "Naruto will never love you the way you love him. After what you told him, he probably hates you."

"No!" Sasuke yelled.

"You will die today," Itachi said, "and not even Naruto will grieve for you."

"Then, I saw Ishichi draw his swords and pointed them at Sasuke.

"Lightning Style: Thunder Shock of Death!" he said with a smirk.

"No!" I yelled. I saw the lightning escape from his sword and hit Sasuke square in the chest. He was flown threw the air. The three ninja gathered around him.

"And to think," Ishichi said, "we have one person to thank for this."

"If Naruto hadn't broken Sasuke's heart," Itachi elaborated, "my little brother wouldn't have searched me out."

"If it wasn't for Naruto Uzumaki," Orochimaru said, "Sasuke would still be alive." He smiled and licked his lips, while Itachi stomped on Sasuke's limp body.

"No!" I yelled, waking with a start. I was sweating, my heart racing. I was on the verge of tears. And I couldn't tell whether it was guilt or something more that made me upset that I rejected Sasuke.

**Author's Note: So we had Sasuke admit his feelings and leave the village. I was going to have a cliff hanger after Sasuke confessed he loved Naruto, but that would be such a short chapter. Then I was going to do one after Sasuke left, but I thought it was important to show Naruto struggle with his feelings some more. Expect a few chapters of Naruto looking for Sasuke, before the big reunion. Remember to R&R.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: So then I said, "I wish I could own Naruto," but the genie told me wishes didn't work like that. So all I ended up with was money, love and power. –Sigh- But no Naruto.**

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. This chapter was kind of hard to do. I wrote these a few months ago, and I was an awful writer. I've been trying to improve them, but I usually end up having to add a lot of scenes. This was the longest chapter I've edited (in the others I usually add a lot of stuff), and it was hard to do, but I like the finished product. There's no Sasuke in this chapter, but I like the way it ends up. Tell me what you think.**

Chapter Ten:  
I couldn't sleep the rest of the night. I decided to pack up camp early, so I could have a good head start. After an hour in the town to stock up on supplies, I left Kunohagara Town, and made my way towards the Land of Wind. It was about 8 in the morning when I decided to take a small rest for breakfast.

It was quiet, not having a squad. It was kinda lonely, but I would put up with it for Sasuke. When did I start to feel that way about him? Did I like him as a friend…or maybe more? Gah! It was so confusing. I decided to take a small walk before heading off again. I stopped next to a tree when I started hearing voices.

It wasn't that I was listening in, but I knew that the conversation was top secret by the hushed voices. I heard four distinct voices talking, but I couldn't make it out. I decided to listen in. Looking back on it, eavesdropping is an awful habit. It's how I learned Sasuke's feelings for me, and how I learned he was leaving the Leaf Village. And now, I was listening in on total srangers. I decided I needed to see who was talking, so I peeked around the tree and saw that there were four Grass ninja talking. I got as close as I could without being detectable.

"The Hidden Leaf Village is still weak from the Sand/Sound invasion," one of them - a chunin - said. "That is why we are here collecting reconnaissance. For our invasion."

That's when I remembered - we had gone to the Village Hidden in the Grass for a reason - to spy on them about possible plans for an invasion. I guess the pervy sage was right about it.

"The daimyo of the Land of Grass wants to prove its superior military power by conquering the Land of Fire. And it would be easy for us to infiltrate and destroy the Hidden Leaf Village."

I couldn't believe this. They were really going to invade.

"It's a good thing that we were able to get away from the village before that jounin found us. Could you imagine if we had to face him?" one asked.

"Please," another said. "He's hardly intimidating. Did you see the ridiculous green jumpsuit he wore? And the haircut? It was laughable!"

"You can't underestimate them, Kojo," one said. "The next time we get into the village, we have to be smarter."

So they were almost caught in the village. That must mean that they're on their way back to the Grass village with information on the Leaf. I could either keep following Sasuke, or stop these ninja. I knew what I had to do. I slowly pulled out a kunai.

The kunai hit it's mark - just to the left of the head of a ninja. He turned around, realizing there was a ninja among them. They assumed that the attempt was to kill, but I missed on purpose. Or should I say my clone missed on purpose?

While my clone came out and distracted them with battle, I prepared a kunai with a light bomb on it. They discovered my ploy just in time. I threw the knife at their feet, and it exploded. I got one down.

Now there were three more who escaped who I had to stop. This would be tougher. I tried to come up with a strategy, but before I knew it, I was surrounded.

"A leaf ninja," one said.

"He knows of the invasion," another said.

"We have to kill him," the last one offered.

"Fat chance," I said. I pulled out a kunai, prepared for combat.

"Earth style: Root prison!" one shouted. From within the ground, two roots shot up and captured my legs. I struggled, but I couldn't move.

A shuriken whizzed past my ear as I ducked. I decided to use the substitution jutsu, and I replaced my body with a piece of wood. It worked, but I didn't quite get the element of surprise I was looking for. The ninja I had appeared behind noticed me immediately, and jumped away from my attack.

"My turn," I said with a smile. "Wind Style: Shuriken Tornado!" I did the jutsu with perfection, hitting two more, but one still managed to escape. He must have decided that the information he had was important enough that he had to escape to get it to his village. He tried to flee, so I followed him.

Or should I tried to follow, because one of the fallen ninja took the time to throw a kunai with a flash bomb at the ground in front of me. It exploded, throwing me back through the air into a tree. I got back up to look for the ninja, but I noticed that there were a few smoke bombs that had gone off, leaving me without any way of tracking him. The information would get back to the grass village, and I couldn't stop it.

And the Hidden Leaf Village had no idea.

I grabbed the collar of one of the fallen ninja. "When is the attack?" I demanded.

"I will never tell you," he said.

"Well, then," I said. "I guess I'll have to force you." I guess it was time for my new jutsu. "Wind Style: Restriction Justu!" A gust of wind threw the ninja to the tree behind him, and kept him pinned against it.

I summoned power from the Nine-Tailed Fox. Not too much, mind you, just enough so that he could see my chakra visible and would wet his pants in fear. I was told that I tended to do that when I let the fox's chakra flow through me. I looked at him and saw the fear in his eyes.

"Tell me when the invasion is or I will tear you limb by limb before finally putting you out of your misery," I growled.

That did the trick. He crumbled before me.

"In one week from tomorrow," he said. "Please spare me."

I had enough info. I knocked him out so that he couldn't follow me, and returned to my camp. I packed up, but all the while, I had a dilemma.

I had to get Sasuke back. That wasn't an option. If I took the time to return, not only would I be too late, but Jiraya would never let me out of the village. But I couldn't ignore the fact that the village was going to be invaded. They were right – the village was still weakened by the invasion seven months ago. If they didn't know about the attack beforehand, there was a good chance they'd lose.

Sasuke or the village? I had to think of a solution.

Then, it just came to me. The solution was staring me right in the eyes.

"Summoning jutsu!" I yelled.

"What's the deal with you summoning me, squirt?" asked the giant toad named Gamabunta who just appeared. "I was in the middle of something."

"I need you to find pervy sage and tell him something!" I said.

"I am not a messenger, squirt."

"I know," I said. "But this is important. Trust me. You need to tell the pervy sage about an invasion of the Hidden Leaf Village in a week and a day from the Hidden Grass Village."

"An invasion?" he asked. "Are you sure, squirt?"

This made me mad. "OF COURSE I'M SURE. I WOULDN'T HAVE SUMMONED YOU WITHOUT KNOWING FOR SURE IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!"

"Jeez, squirt," he said. "Calm down. Why can't you tell him yourself?"

"I need to do something else. Whatever you do, you can't tell the pervy sage where I am! Got it?"

"He is Lord Hokage!" the toad bellowed. "He should know where all of his ninja are. Where's your team?"

"Kakashi and Ino were killed in our last mission," I said, my eyes adverting from his gaze. "And Sasuke is...he's not here."

"Sounds like you're going off on your own, squirt. I'll have to tell Jiraya."

"You can't!" I yelled. I had to tell Jiraya, or he would tell the pervy sage where I was. There was no choice. "It's Sasuke! He left to find his brother Itachi to avenge his clan! I need to find him before something bad happens." Gamabunta waited a minute to respond.

"I won't tell him on one condition, squirt," Gamabunta told me. "You have to bring Gamakichi and Gamatatsu with you. If anything...untoward...happens to you, they will get me or Gama and we will help you. Got it?"

"Fine," I said. I preformed two more summoning jutsu, and informed the toads of what was going on. With all that summoning and the battle with the grass ninja, I was beat. And it wasn't even noon. Oh well, at least I could have some lunch and rest up.

OoOoOoOoO

I woke up to two toads jumping on me to wake me up.

"You know, kid," Gamakichi said, "we should be getting a move on sometime soon."

"I need to sleep," I moaned, my eyes still shut.

"But Naruto," Gamatatsu whined. "It's dinnertime and I'm hungry."

"You glutton!" Gamakichi yelled. "You already had his two bags of potato chips!"

"You what!" I yelled. Oh well, at least Choji wasn't here. Then we'd never hear the end of this. I sighed.

"Let's go another few hundred kilometers before we eat," I said.

"But I'm hungryyyyyyy," Gamatatsu whined.

"So am I, Gamatatsu," I said, "in fact, right now, I'd be eating a nice bag of potato chips." I sent him a glare, and he shifted uncomfortably. "Oh well, I guess we'll both have to wait." Gamakichi snorted at my sarcasm. We packed up and prepared to leave, but before I could, I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

I turned around and saw a brown tarp that was poorly meant to camouflage the two obvious bulges underneath the tarp with the dirt. That poor camouflage disguise could only be from one person.

"Konohamaru, what are you doing here?" I asked the tarp.

"I told you he was too sharp for this," the brunette boy said from underneath the tarp.

"If you weren't so awful at camouflage, then he wouldn't have noticed," came the voice of a kunoichi that I recognized all too well.

"Sakura!" I yelled. "What are you two doing here?" I demanded. They finally came out of their poor disguise, both avoiding my gaze.

"I ran into her, boss," Konohamaru said, "and she was upset about you leaving. I convinced her to track you with me."

"Where's Sasuke?" she asked. "I thought he'd be here with you."

"Naruto," Gamakichi interrupted. "Aren't you going to introduce us? I know your girlfriend from your battle with that sand ninja -" the look on Sakura's face was priceless - "but who's the other guy?"

"Konohomaru, Sakura, this is Gamakichi and Gamatatsu. And Gamakichi - she isn't my girlfriend!"

"Anymore," Sakura muttered.

"Well, she wasn't when I was fighting Gaara," I cleared up.

Instead of sending them back (they admitted they'd just follow me again) I decided to let them tag along, as long as they kept Gamakichi and Gamatatsu on their heads. It was annoying carrying them on mine. They reluctantly agreed, and we left to find Sasuke.

I guess I was leading a squad now. And what a squad it was – me, the holder of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, a kunoichi chunin, an academy student who's jutsu wasn't very developed, a toad who had an appetite that rivaled Choji's, and his smart ass of a brother. Not exactly elite, but it was more than I had when I left the village. And at least I wouldn't feel lonely anymore.

We finally made it to the border before we set up camp. We all missed dinner (Gamatatsu reminded us frequently), but we had a midnight snack before drifting into sleep. I used my brain for once (Sasuke would be so proud) and set traps around us, as we were on the border with another country, so any intruders would be hard pressed to sneak up on us in our sleep.

That night, I didn't sleep any better than before. Another dream of Sasuke plagued me. This time, it was Ino, Kakashi and Sasuke against Itachi. Itachi was being overpowered until Ino and Kakashi were stabbed in the back by someone I didn't recognize.

"It's a good thing that Naruto wasn't paying close enough attention, or they might have survived," Itachi said to himself. He turned to Sasuke and put him in a headlock before snapping his neck.

"It's all Naruto's fault," I heard Itachi's voice say. The statement was echoed by Sasuke's voice, then Orochimaru's, then Kabuto's, then Ishichi's, then Kakashi's, then Ino's, and finally Sakura's.

"Naruto," I heard Sakura's voice say over and over, before I woke up, seeing everyone gathered around me.

It was already morning, and Sakura's face was right in front of mine. This wouldn't be a problem for me a month ago – we'd kissed enough times – but I felt so wrong being that close to her now. I wonder what changed?

"You were screaming and writhing, Naruto," she said. "What were you dreaming about?"

"What was I screaming?" I asked.

"Sasuke's name," she said. She looked away as I sat up, and then refocused her gaze on me "What's the mission we're on, and where is Sasuke?" she asked.

"He left the village," I said. Seeing her shocked face, I continued. "That's why I left. To find him. He was at Kakashi's grave, and he said that learning to love and trust people distracted him from his goal - to kill Itachi and restore his clan. He left the village to kill Itachi."

"So you know where Sasuke is?" she asked.

"No," I said. "But if I find Itachi, I'll find Sasuke."

"You mean 'we', right boss?" Konohamaru asked. I looked around at my teammates - human and not human - and sighed.

"Yes, I mean 'we'."

We got a head start that day, and we made it to our first foreign village. I knew that after the invasion, there was mistrust between the Sand and the Leaf, so I knew that any sand shinobi I ran into wouldn't cause a scene. Still, we removed our headbands.

With a picture of Itachi and a picture o f Sasuke, we began looking around, asking people if they'd seen them. No luck in the entire village. Nor in the next one.

What was I thinking? I realized. I can't find Itachi! If it were that easy, he'd have been caught a long time ago. I needed Itachi to come to me. That when I realized something.

"Itachi is searching for the hosts of the Tailed beasts, right?" I asked Sakura over lunch.

"Yeah," she said, "why?"

"Because that's how we're going to find him." I smiled.

"What are you planning, Naruto?" she asked.

"You'll find out," I said.

OoOoOoOoO

That day, we went out into the forest of the Land of Wind.

"Naruto," Konohamaru said, "I don't think you're plan will work."

"Yeah," Gamakichi said. "And it'll freak out a lot of people."

"Do you have any better ideas?" I asked.

"It's a bad idea, Naruto," Sakura said.

"I don't care," I said. "I have to find Sasuke!" I bit my thumb and put it to the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" I yelled. And for the second time that week, I had summoned Gamabunta.

"What is this, squirt?" he asked. "Do you need me? Are Gamakichi and Gamatatsu alright?"

"We're fine," I said.

"Speak for yourself," Gamatatsu said, "I'm huuuuuuungry."

"WILL YOU STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT HUNGER EVERY FIVE SECONDS!" I yelled.

"Hey, squirt!" Gamabunta said, "Don't talk to my son like that."

"Sorry," I muttered.

"What do you need? Jiraya's in a right state. He told me that as soon as they deal with the Hidden Grass Village, he's sending an elite squad to hunt you down," the toad told me.

"Remember when we were fighting Shukaku," I began, "and you needed claws. So I turned you and I into the Nine Tailed Fox?"

"I remember," he said, narrowing his eyes at me. "What does this have to do with now, squirt?"

"I need to do it again," I told him. I spent the next fifteen minutes explaining my idea. If we transformed into the Nine-Tailed Fox, it would attract a lot of attention – enough to catch Itachi Uchiha's interest. Sasuke would also see it, and he'd be drawn to it to find Itachi. If they could get Sasuke before Itachi got us, we could go back to the village.

The next day, we put our plans into motion. We roamed around for a little bit, and it attracted a lot of attention. After a few hours, Hidden Sand Shinobi came to fight us, and we decided it was time to end it, instead of fighting. He disappeared, leaving me all alone. The sand shinobi couldn't find me because I hid (Konohamaru offered to lend me some camouflage…I said no). It didn't matter – it would be newsworthy, and Itachi would search us – or should I say me? – out.

Needless to say, it didn't work. After two days of waiting, Sakura and Konohamaru decided to get me to give up. They suggested that if we kept waiting, someone was bound to find us, and it wouldn't be Itachi. And the longer we waited, the further Sasuke would be from us.

"Naruto," Sakura said. "Maybe you're going about this all wrong."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're looking for who Sasuke is tracking, hoping you two will find him at the same time. Maybe you should take a different approach."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I think what she's saying, boss," Konohamaru interjected, "is that you should look for someone who's also looking for Sasuke."

I looked in Sakura's eyes.

"Oh, no," I said. "No way!"

"What? Who is it?" Gamatatsu asked.

"Orochimaru," Sakura said. Gamakichi and Konohamaru gasped.

"We can't just go looking for that madman!" I yelled.

"You were more than fine trying to lure Itachi to us. If you ask me, Itachi is more dangerous," she said.

"Yeah," I said, "but to get to Orochimaru," I began, "we'd have to go to the Land of Sound."

"What's wrong with that?" she asked. "We can stay in the Land of Fire near the border."

"That sounds like a better idea," Konohamaru said. "Plus, by the time we get back, it'll be time for the invasion, and we can help out!"

"No," I said. "They'd wonder where Sasuke is, and they wouldn't let me go back to find him."

"Naruto," Sakura said.

"I can't do it, Sakura," I said. "I love the village more than anything," I began, "but-"

"-but not more than Sasuke?" she asked. Did she just suggest I loved Sasuke? Thanks a lot Sakura, that really helped me figure out my feelings. "They can't honestly keep you in the village if you don't want to be. Plus, Jiraya would totally let you go find Sasuke!"

"He'd find out that Sasuke is a missing nin," I said.

"They've already classified him - and all of us - as missing nin by now," Konohamaru said. "Let's go back, and you can make this an official mission."

"If you want to help then just go back," I said. "Seriously, I don't need you here, and I didn't want you here."

"We're sticking with you, boss," Konohamaru said.

"Good, because we're going to the Land of Sound," I said triumphantly. Wait! Did they just trick me? I know I didn't want to do that, but somehow, they got me to suggest it! They pulled a bugs bunny on me! Damn them!

OoOoOoOoO

After a week, we ended up in the Land of Sound. We knew that Orochimaru and other Sound ninja knew what we looked like, so we decided to use transformation jutsus to change out looks.

Sakura was now a guy named Saku who wore a grey fur jacket similar to Kiba's. She wore black pants, and had her hair dyed black. She wore the Hidden Sound forehead protector on her forearm.

Konohamaru was now as tall as us. He was a girl named Maru, who had sky blue hair that went down his back. It was tied back in a pigtail. He, or should I say she, wore his (or should I say her) Sound forehead protector as a belt, like Lee does.

I also transformed into a girl. It was actually my sexy jutsu with clothes on. I changed my hair color to a duller blonde, and I used genjutsu to hide my whiskers. My name for the mission was Narau. I let my shoulder length hair fall down. I wore my forehead protector from the Sound village just like Sakura wore her Leaf forehead protector, as a ribbon in my hair.

We tried to think of a way to pass off Gamatatsu and Gamakichi, to no avail. We decided that while we were in the Land of Sound, they'd go back to their home until we were done.

We infiltrated the Village Hidden in the Sound quite easily. I had rented an apartment in the only apartment building in the village, which we all managed to share. Konohamaru - erm, I mean Maru and Saku slept in the double bed, and I slept on the couch.

The next day, we woke up late, so we had an early lunch at a pork place.

"Did you hear about the invasion of the Hidden Leaf Village?" I overheard someone ask at the next table. Sakura dropped her fork. I guess I wasn't the only one who heard it.

"I thought the Grass Village had destroyed them," the other one said. Konohamaru clenched his fists.

"No," the first guy said. "Apparently, they figured out about the invasion beforehand. The Leaf Village had only one casualty defending the village."

I looked at Sakura and Konohamaru with a smile. I just hoped we wouldn't return to the village to find another friend dead. But considering how many leaf shinobi there are, I doubted I even knew whoever died.

We left the restaurant after eating, and were walking back to the apartment. When Sakura stopped us.

"Is that-?" Sakura asked, pointing to a nerdy looking guy heading toward the center of the village.

"Kabuto," I confirmed. He was walking in a hurry, and I smiled. "I think we found our way to Orochimaru."

"I'll use some of my camouflage to follow him," Konohamaru said with a smile.

"I don't think so," I said.

We casually followed Kabuto until we reached a place that was so menacing, it had to be Orochimaru's hideout. I signaled Sakura and Konohamaru to distract Kabuto. While he was distracted by the lover's quarrel that they fabricated, I was able to attack him from behind with my clones. He put up a small fight, but we eventually knocked him out with the element of surprise.

It was time to say goodbye to Narau as I transformed into Kabuto. It made me sick just thinking that I had to pretend to be him.

I walked into the building, and eventually found where Orochimaru was. But he looked...different. He must have had a new body!

"Ah, Kabuto," he said with a hiss. "I see you have returned."

Damn. I forgot in the "brilliance" of my plan, I needed to be able to impersonate Kabuto.

"Yes I have, my lord," I said. I swear, I was getting sick to my stomach.

"How have the preparations been going?" he hissed.

"P-preparations?" I asked. I saw his eyebrows arch for merely a second.

"You remember," he said. "The ones to fetch the Uchiha."

"Oh, right," I tried to cover. "We can leave as soon as you want, my lord."

"My lord?" he asked. "What did you do wrong that you are trying to butter me up for?" he said with a sly grin.

"Erm, nothing," I said. Well, how was _I_ supposed to know what Kabuto called him!

"I see," he said. He paused and looked at me curiously before smiling. "Tell me, Naruto Uzumaki, what happened to Kabuto?" He smiled.

I backed away and pulled out a kunai, releasing my transformation jutsu. "How did you know?" I growled.

"From the second you hesitated when I asked for how my preparations were going," he said with a sly smile. "And I also know why you're here in my lair."

Why wasn't he attacking me, or at least calling for back up? "W-what do you think I'm doing here?"

"You're looking for Sasuke, and thought I might have information," he said.

"H-how do you-" I began.

"You think that I, with a goal to take down the Hidden Leaf Village and claim Sasuke's body as my own, wouldn't know when two of the most high profile chunin suddenly became missing nin?" he asked. "I'm hurt."

"Why aren't you trying to fight me?" I asked.

"My jutsu to claim this body has not completely finished. I have a few more days before I have total control over this body. I'd call for help, but something tells me you're too powerful for them. But you won't kill me, nonetheless."

"Why's that?" I asked. I stepped forward, pointing my kunai at him. Okay, I'll admit it. Knowing he was powerless against me gave me a sudden burst of courage.

"Because you need me to help you find Sasuke," he said. I gasped in surprise. "We have a common goal, Naruto," the snake like man said. "I know you don't particularly like me-"

"You killed the Third Hokage," I spat at him.

"-but," he continued, "you need me. Alive."

He was right. As much as I would love to kill him now when I had the chance, I couldn't lose Sasuke. Maybe Orochimaru and Kabuto could help us find Sasuke. And then, with Sasuke, Sakura, Konohamaru and I, we could easily defeat the two of them. But Orochimaru must know this.

"How do you know I won't turn on you," I asked.

"I don't," he admitted. "But by the time we'd find Sasuke, you'd be facing a rejuvenated sannin, so I shouldn't have to worry."

He was right. How can I even think that Sasuke and I could take on a sannin and Kabuto at the same time?

"I'll give you until tomorrow to give me your answer, Naruto Uzumaki. Until then, you and your friends are free to stay at our finest hotel free of charge for the night. And you don't have to continue with those ridiculous disguises. Although I admit your blue haired friend looks delicious." He smiled as he licked his lips, sending shivers down my spine. "I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto." He smiled one last time as I left the building.

I saw the shocked faces of Sakura and Konohamaru as I left the building with my Leaf forehead protector, my orange jumpsuit, and my spiky blonde hair.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, running up to me. Konohamaru wasn't far behind.

"You can stop your disguises," I said. "It's easier to talk to Sakura and Konohamaru than Saku and Maru."

They undid their jutsu, and we went to the hotel Orochimaru was talking about. I don't know how they knew we were coming, but as soon as we got there, we were led up to the room he had promised. It was grand, with three bedrooms (each with their own bathroom!) and a common room.

"Naruto," Sakura asked, sitting down on the sofa. "What's going on?"

I didn't answer immediately. Instead, I summoned Gamakichi and Gamatatsu.

"Hey, kid," Gamakichi said.

"Do you have snacks this time?" Gamatatsu asked.

"NO!" I yelled. "AND I HAVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS ON MY MIND THAN SETTLING YOUR INSATIABLE APPETITE!"

"I thought Daddy told you not to yell at me?" Gamatatsu said.

"Shut up," Gamakichi growled.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled. "YOU HAVE UNTIL I COUNT TO THREE TO TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON! ONE...TWO..."

"Alright," I said. "Orochimaru knew we were here and he knew we were looking for Sasuke."

"That doesn't explain why you were allowed to leave without a scratch on you," she said.

"Yeah, boss," Konohamaru interjected. "And why we were set up in such a nice hotel."

"Orochimaru wants us to team up to find him," I said. "Without him, we won't find Sasuke."

"What!" Sakura yelled.

"You can't do it, Naruto! He killed my grandfather!" Konohamaru said.

"Orochimaru," Gamatatsu began. "Isn't he the one you were fighting the first time I was summoned?"

"Yeah," Gamakichi said.

"Hey! You still owe me a snack from that!" Gamatatsu yelled.

There was yelling all around the room. Sakura telling me we can't do it, and Konohamaru talking about it being a betrayal of the Third Hokage. Then there was Gamakichi and Gamatatsu arguing. I couldn't think.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" I yelled. "I don't know what to do," I admitted. "We can't find Sasuke alone, but we can't trust Orochimaru. He has a new body that will be fully functional by the time we find Sasuke, so we won't be able to fight our way out of it." A few seconds of silence, and I knew what I had to do. "But I know what I'm going to do."

"What are you going to do?" I heard four voices say at once.

"I'm going to kill Orochimaru."

**Author's Note: Okay, so there was no Sasuke here, and, I hate to break it to you, no Sasuke next chapter either. I'm being nice today, so I'll give you a scoop. I might not be able to post the next chapter until next weekend, so I'll tell you a little bit. Basically, it details Orochimaru's plan, and Naruto's plan, and how it all ends up. We'll see a little bit of everyone in the next few chapters, but no Sasuke. Naruto has to realize he…wait, I don't want to give it all away! So just review like good little readers, maybe add this to your favorites, and tell all your Yaoi loving friends. And don't worry, Sasuke will turn up…eventually. Muah ha ha.**

**But seriously…please review. :-)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: "Naruto," I said. "Will you be mine?"**

** "Sorry, SoapMaster," he said. "I already belong to someone."**

** "DAMN YOU MASASHI KISHIMOTO!"**

**Author's Note: This chapter has been written for a while, but I had to make some changes. I'll readily admit it's not my best work, or my longest, but I needed to do it to set up a really good chapter. So read, and then click that little review button.**

Chapter Eleven:  
"You," Konohamaru began.

"Are going to," Sakura continued.

"Kill," continued Gamakichi.

"I want food!" Gamatatsu whined. I guess he didn't realize he was interrupting their comprehension of what I just said.

"SHUT UP YOU DUMBASS!" Gamakichi said.

"Killing Orochimaru?" Sakura asked. "How is that going to help?"

Ignoring the noise coming from the fighting toads, I answered her. "I'm sure Kabuto will know where Sasuke is."

"What makes you think he'll tell you?" Konohamaru asked.

"He's not going to tell me," I said. "He's going to tell Orochimaru." I saw Sakura's face light up with realization, but Konohamaru was still confused. I decided to prove my point. "Transformation jutsu!" I yelled. With a cloud of smoke, I took the form of Orochimaru's new body."

"Y-you," Konohamaru stuttered, "l-l-look j-just like-"

"That's the plan," Sakura said. "He's going to try to kill Orochimaru and impersonate him." 

OoOoOoOoO

Phase one of the plan went off without a hitch. We made sure that Kabuto was gone from Orochimaru's lair. He calls it a headquarters, but I think lair describes the basic atmosphere better.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Orochimaru hissed with a smile as I entered the large room he was in. In sort of reminded me of the arena where the preliminary part of the chunin exams took place. This would work well with my plan. "Have you made your decision?"

"I have," I said. "And I've decided to accept your deal." I kept the solemn expression that he would expect. He offered his hand for me to shake. This was perfect. I sent a boatload of chakra to my hand as I clasped his. And I grabbed. Because of my chakra, he couldn't move.

"W-what-?" he began to ask, but he was cut off by my shadow clone's attack from behind him. I released him grip as the clone hit him, and he flew across the room, hitting the wall.

"You'll pay for that, you brat," he hissed, standing up.

"I'd like to see you make me." With the help of my clone, I was able to focus my chakra on making fire appear in my hands while he worked on starting the rasengan. "Fire Style: Flaming Rasengan!" I yelled. I rushed at him, and he jumped out of the way. I blew a hole in the wall behind him.

I must have made him really mad. He opened his mouth and a snake came out instead of his tongue. The snake opened _its _mouth, and a sword handle came out. I watched as Orochimaru took the hilt and pulled it out entirely.

"Meet the Sword of Kusanagi - Killer of the Third Hokage!" He came at me with the sword. He was so fast I barely had time to dodge it. I did a quick hand sign.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A hundred of my clones appeared.

"Your clones will do nothing but slow me down," he said as he began to take care of my clones. All I needed was the time to think of a plan.

What could I do? I could do the Shuriken Tornado, but I don't think that would really work. I could use a summoning jutsu, but what would a toad do to help? He'd just summon a snake to counter it. Maybe I could use a combination of the rasengan and my Shuriken Tornado?

No sooner had I finished thinking than he had defeated my last clone. I did the handsign.

"Fire Style: Flaming Rasengan!" I yelled. It took a few seconds before it appeared in my hand.

"Not this again," he chuckled.

"Wind Style: Tornado of Death!" I felt the familiar spiral pick me up as a tornado erupted around me. As I spun around gaining momentum, I focused on Orochimaru before releasing the rasengan. I prayed it would work. I could never throw a rasengan without the momentum the tornado provided.

The tornado subsided just in time to let me see the rasengan hit Orochimaru square in the gut and propel him to the other side of the room, smash through a wall, and hit the wall of the next room. In the attack, he dropped his sword, which I picked up and pointed at his limp body.

He looked up at me and smirked as he licked his lips. The sword became a snake, which I quickly dropped. The snake returned to Orochimaru, and I did a few back flips to distance myself from this maniac. Coming here alone was a mistake. 

OoOoOoOoO

Flashback

"I'm not letting you do this on your own, Naruto!" Sakura yelled at me.

"Orochimaru is only expecting me," I said. "Plus, he's a sannin. I'll probably need the Nine Tails to face him. Knowing you and Konohamaru are safe will be help enough."

"You shouldn't worry about me, Naruto," she said. "I'm a shinobi. A chunin!"

"HE KILLED THE HOKAGE, SAKURA! DO YOU THINK THAT TWO CHUNIN CAN STAND A CHANCE?"

"It's better than one chunin," she said.

"I'm not a chunin," I said, "I'm a demon."

"Don't talk that way," she said.

"It's true," I said. "I have the single most powerful being sealed within me. I have the largest stores of chakra in the universe. I'm not a regular chunin. I'll barely stand a chance, even with the fox's power. I don't want to have to worry about you."

She huffed off, leaving me alone with Gamakichi.

"Yikes," he said, "she's a feisty one."

"Tell me about it," I said. "Gamakichi, promise me one thing."

"What?" he asked.

"No matter how much she tries, you have to keep her away from the battle."

"I promise."'

OoOoOoOoO

Orochimaru picked up his sword and ran at me. I didn't have time to think as I bit my thumb, and pressed it against the cold, hard floor. Before Orochimaru could kill me, Gama appeared, holding his diamond plated arm guard to protect me.

The sword hit the arm guard, and Gama grunted. He didn't need to talk to me to know what was going on. He's smart like that.

"This sword is...too strong..." he said. I rolled out of the way, and he followed.

"Well well," Orochimaru said. "If it isn't Gama the Toad."

"Orochimaru," he said with disgust.

"I think it is time to kill you. Both of you," he said. He raised his sword at Gama, but a kunai hit his wrist before he could strike. The blade fell to the ground and the three of us looked at where the attack came from.

"Got 'em!" Konohamaru yelled. Sakura, Gamatatsu and Gamakichi followed him in the hole in the wall I made with my first rasengan.

"Gamakichi!" I yelled in anger.

"It's not my fault!" he protested. "She made me!"

In his defense, what was I thinking leaving a small toad to be in charge of a human kunoichi?

"Gamakichi, Gamatatsu," Gama began, "it's too dangerous for you here! Get out of here, now!" He hopped over to the two smaller toads.

"But Gama!" Gamatatsu whined. "I'm hungry and the girl with pink hair said there'd be food."

Orochimaru returned his focus to me. I saw he was weak, as his body hadn't been fully rested from the body transfer. He only had one good jutsu left in him.

And he used it.

"Summoning jutsu!" he yelled. A giant, purple snake appeared. "Hello, Manda."

He was as big as Gamabunta! That's it! I summoned as much jutsu as I could muster.

"Summoning jutsu!" I yelled with the bloody thumb that I had given myself to summon Gama touching the ground. Before Manda could lunge at the two shinobi and the three toads, Gamabunta appeared to protect them.

Orochimaru looked at the four toads. "What is this? A family reunion?"

"Hey squirt!" he yelled. "What's this..." he paused and took in the surroundings. Orochimaru. Manda. Gama. The kids. "about?" he continued. He looked at Orochimaru. "I knew we'd end up face to face again. I just figured it'd come down to you versus Jiraya."

"It will when I kill the perverted fool after I take care of this brat," he smiled. Manda lunged at Gamabunta, and he jumped to dodge it. Being as I was on Gamabunta's head, I was shocked flying so high into the air. We landed outside Orochimaru's lair. Manda and Orochimaru followed us.

Gamabunta made a hand sign. "Water Style: Liquid Bullet!" He spat a water bullet at Orochimaru and Manda, but they dodged it. It hit the hotel we were staying at. The building collapsed.

"Gamabunta," I said. "We can't do this fight in the village. Innocent people will be hurt."

"Whatever, squirt," he said. He began to just dodge Manda's lunges at him. I told him to get away from here! I was going to yell at him, but then I realized he was leading them outside the village into a field.

"You will die here, Gamabunta!" Manda yelled. "Poison Style: Fang Shuriken!" He opened his mouth and poisonous fangs shot out of his mouth at us. "Water Style: Liquid Bullet!" was Gamabunta's response, stopping the fangs in their tracks. But one made it past the water, and ended up hitting Gamabunta.

"Ah!" he yelled as he fell to the ground. He tried to stand back up, but he collapsed. I could tell this was Gamabunta's last stand. He faded quickly – the poison must be fast acting!

The rage over his defeat poured over me, and I felt the red hot chakra of the Nine Tailed Fox overcome me. I looked at myself and saw that I had a chakra tail. Three actually! I felt much more powerful than I ever had.

Manda took a final lunge at Gamabunta, and I jumped in the air. Meeting him half way, I punched Manda's nose with such force that the snake was thrown back into the village with Orochimaru still on his head. I saw a big poof of smoke, and I knew Manda had retreated.

I began to calm down as Sakura, Gama, Gamakichi, Konohamaru and Gamatatsu all ran towards me. The idiots left the safety of the village to follow the battle! If I wasn't so overwhelmed with grief, I'd have been pissed.

"Dad," Gamakichi gasped, noticing Gamabunta's limp body.

"Dad?" Gamatatsu questioned. Believe it or not, that was probably the first thing I've ever heard come out of his mouth that had nothing to do with food

The giant toad was motionless, but then his eyes began to open. I looked at Sakura and Konohamaru and saw tears in their eyes. And yes, there might have been a tear in mine too.

"Hey, boys," Gamabunta smiled weakly.

"Gamabunta," Gama began. "You...you're hurt."

I walked toward Sakura and Konohamaru as we watched the toads say goodbye.

"You're not...you're not dying, Dad!" Gamakichi yelled.

"I am, son," Gamabunta said. "Manda got in a good shot. I want you, all of you, to know that I love you."

"Dad," Gamatatsu said, a tear falling down his face. I looked away after that. I couldn't keep watching that scene. It was too sad.

After Gamabunta finally passed, Gama took Gamatatsu and Gamakichi back with him. Gamabunta's body was also taken. Gama told me he was going to inform Jiraya of Gamabunta's passing.

Sakura and Konohamaru transformed back into their original disguises from when we first arrived to the Hidden Sound Village, while I transformed into Orochimaru. It sickened me to appear as the man who killed the Third Hokage and now Gamabunta. I mean, sure Manda technically killed him, but Orochimaru summoned Manda.

I had no idea what happened to Orochimaru, but I didn't care. When I returned to the lair, tired and exhausted, Kabuto was waiting.

"What happened?" he asked.

Hoping that he'd believe I was Orochimaru, I told him, "the Nine-Tails brat betrayed me," I said. "And he put up a good fight, too."

"I saw," he said. "You need to rest to get your body to full strength."

"No!" I yelled, pushing his hand away. "Prepare to leave the village, Kabuto. Tomorrow we are finding Sasuke Uchiha."

OoOoOoOoO

We never really went over this part of the plan. I was supposed to have Kabuto lead me right to Sasuke, but what about Konohamaru and Sakura? I totally forgot about them. I mean, Kabuto would definitely know something was up if they tagged along.

So while Kabuto made final preparations, I told Konohamaru and Sakura to just follow us at a distance in case I needed help. They agreed, and Kabuto and I left the village.

It was weird trying to impersonate Orochimaru. All I knew about him was that he was a creep. I never really saw him interact much with Kabuto. But he was buying it, hook, line and sinker. It was almost working too well.

He told me we were heading the Land of Wind. It made sense - that was where Itachi was supposedly hiding out, so of course Sasuke would be there, looking for Itachi. We took the long route, eager to stay away from the Land of Fire.

We set up a camp once we were inside the Land of Wind. I hoped that Sakura and Konohamaru were still tracking us. We hadn't stopped all day, and it was time to rest. After a short and silent dinner, I went to my tent and fell asleep. And during the night, I had another dream about Sasuke.

But this one wasn't the same as they usually are. Usually I dream about someone killing Sasuke, and it being my fault for not keeping him in the Hidden Leaf Village. That night, I dreamt of our past. I was standing outside of my body, watching my interactions with him.

I was in the academy. I looked around and saw a mob of girls standing in the aisle of the classroom. I looked around some more and saw the younger me crouching on the desk in front of Sasuke glaring at him. I saw the kid in front of me push me, as I fell on Sasuke's lips.

_Was that where it all started? Surely he didn't l...love me back then. It must have happened later._

Then, I was in the forest in the Land of Waves. Sasuke and I were trying to climb the trees by concentrating the chakra to our feet. I was building up chakra after we had fallen up a tree. I stopped, and I looked ready to climb it. Until I heard Sasuke's voice.

"Hey, Naruto." Well, that broke my concentration.

"Sasuke! What are you doing? I was trying to focus my chakra!"

"Well...the thing is..." I could see his eyes twitching.

"The thing is what?" I asked annoyed.

"You…you know…asked Sakura for advice while she was here," he said. Wow, was he nervous! "So what...what did she tell you?"

I looked at that scene and saw the first pleasant thing he ever said to me. Well, it wasn't exactly pleasant, but it was the first time he didn't start an argument with me. And what did I say back?

"Ha! I'm not telling _you_." I facepalmed watching myself.

The scene changed once more. We were battling Haku in her Demon Ice Mirrors. I was too weak, but Sasuke protected me anyway. Even though it almost cost his life, he took so many hits for me. And for a while, I even thought he was dead. That was the first time I was so angry that I called upon the Nine-Tails chakra.

Another scene change happened - it was me defending Sasuke from Orochimaru's snake in the Forest of Death during the chunin exams. And then there was the scene at the chunin exams of Sasuke telling me that I'm one of the people he wants to fight the most. I remember that moment vividly without the dream. It was the first time I felt important. Important enough for Sasuke to take notice.

There were a few more changes, but I saw our relationship develop. I saw the scene where I overheard him admit to Kakashi that he loves me. And I saw the night after Kakashi died when I comforted him in the middle of the night. The final scene began. All I could do was watch:

"Sasuke!" I said, running over to him and throwing my arms around him. I buried my head in his shirt. "Thank god you're here!" I could feel tears escaping my eyes, but I couldn't care less. Sasuke was alright!

"Hn," he grunted. "What are you doing here, dobe?" he asked, pushing me away. I coughed violently, the smoke and my run to find him finally catching up to me.

"Sasuke, I need to tell you something. It's about your house." He looked up at me, confused. I coughed some more, before he sat me down and gave me some water. After I had a few sips, I continued. "Ishichi burned your house down."

Sasuke jumped to his feet. "He _what?"_The rage in his eyes was unmistakable. I coughed some more, causing him to forget his anger to help me breathe.

I nodded. "I saw it happen. I thought you were in there. I was so scared, I thought I lost you too."

"My house is..." he began.

"It's gone," I said. He dropped to his knees. And just stared into space silently for a few minutes.

"Then I really have nothing," he said.

"That's not true, Sasuke," I said. "You have me." He looked at me with anger in his eyes.

"Not in a way that matters. Not in the way I need you."

"What are you saying, Sasuke?" I asked. But I knew damned well what he was saying.

"I love you, Naruto," he said, tears threatening to form in his eyes. "I love you in a way you can never love me. I love you."

I stared at him in silence, unable to say a word.

I – the real me, not the dream me – was thinking of the nightmares I'd had, where Sasuke died because he knew I didn't love him. I was thinking of the way that Sasuke had turned his back on love and emotion. I didn't know what made me say it, but I know that I _did _said it.

"I love you, too, Sasuke," I whispered. I felt a brush against my lips and woke up, seeing Sasuke above me, kissing me. My eyes widened in shock. Was I awake, or was this part of the dream? Either way, I wasn't ready to let it go. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I kissed him back.

I felt his tongue brush my lower lip, requesting access to my mouth. I opened my mouth and felt his tongue invade. I explored his mouth, savoring his taste for a short while, until he pulled away. He made a hand sign that I didn't recognize and he touched my heart. My eyelids started to droop, and he whispered "I love you," to me.

The next thing I knew, Kabuto was waking me.

"Orochimaru," he began. "It's time to leave."

Was it a dream? It must have been. But what was that with the hand sign? I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Kabuto and I left after a quick breakfast, and we resumed our search for Sasuke. If anything, my dream made me even more confused. Why'd I tell Sasuke I love him? Why did I dream of us kissing? Why did I kiss back? Was I gay? Did I really love Sasuke?

I'd never had a dream about another guy. I've never thought of another guy that way. This was too confusing. I heard my long-ago conversation with Iruka replaying in my head.

_"Naruto," he said. "I'm going to ask you a question. Think about it, sleep on it. Do you not feel anything with Sakura because it's Sakura, or is it because she's a girl?"_

_"What are you saying?" I asked him._

_"Is it possible that your problems with Sakura and the reason you're so upset about this guy liking you because you might be gay?"_

And Kakashi had even asked me the same question.

_"Naruto," he began, "why did you break up with Sakura?"_

_"She felt more like my sister than anything else. I just didn't feel very attracted to her."_

_"Naruto," Kakashi began, "are you gay?"_

Did Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei know this about me before I knew it myself? What did all of this mean? I was so confused, that I didn't even notice when we entered the clearing.

Kabuto and I stopped dead in our tracks, knocking me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw the reason why we stopped – the one person who could complicate things further.

"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet," Itachi Uchiha said, as a burst of water came tumbling at me. I dodged it, but then I saw what was really going on.

Itachi Uchiha was standing next to Orochimaru, and Kabuto went to stand beside them.

"W-what's going on?" I asked. Seeing Orochimaru, I knew the jig was up. I couldn't keep pretending _I _was Orochimaru when he was really standing in front of me. To make matters worse, I was alone facing a sannin, a medical ninja, and an S-ranked criminal.

"You really think that you could have beaten me?" Orochimaru asked. "I knew of your plan, so I arranged a deal with Itachi. If we ambushed you, he could have you and the Nine-Tailed Fox. As long as I get his brother, we're even, and we all get what we want.

"But first, we needed Kabuto to lead you to us. And he did a great job, didn't he, Itachi?"

Itachi's eyes had a coldness to them that not even Sasuke's possessed. The one thing I knew as I transformed back into myself, was that I was outnumbered and outmatched.

In other words, I was done for.

**Author's Note: I know I said this one would take a while, but as I said on my other story, Life Moves On, my schedule cleared up, so I can work on my stories some more.**

**This chapter was a little shorter and a little rushed because I wanted to get to the good, juicy stuff for you. Sorry if you didn't like it, but it is what it is. And look – I lied…there was a little Sasuke in there. But was he real, or was it a dream? And now, Naruto's beginning to question his sexuality. But more importantly, will Naruto be able to beat them. Lemme just say that I've already written the battle, and I really like it. I think all you will like the ending too. Let's just say Sasuke might just appear soon. Remember to review….on second thought, wait until the next chapter to review…I'm not as confident in this one.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, wouldn't they have at least kissed by now? –Looks at episode three- Oh… well, believe me, if I owned it, it would be pay per view because the kissing wouldn't stop there.**

**Author's Note: I'm sorry if the battle scene is kind of stupid. My computer broke and I needed a new one so I couldn't update this as quickly as I would have liked. I promise after this chapter, they get much better. Well, there's one last battle scene and then it's back to the village. But by Chapter Fourteen, we'll have some nice angst in the Hidden Leaf. And yes, there will be some Yaoi too. **

Chapter Twelve:

I had played right into their hands. They knew what I was planning all along, and I let myself be manipulated. They had me right where they wanted me.

Orochimaru took my shock and decided it would be time to strike. He did a hand sign. "Multiple Striking Shadow Snake Jutsu!" Four huge snakes shot out from his hand. They were jet black, and they were heading straight to me.

I couldn't move, I was in so much shock. The surrounded me, and slithered in a circle around me. One decided to take it's chance and strike, lunging towards me at the center of their circle. I jumped up, and rolled outside their circle. I made a hand sign.

"Wind Style: Whirlwind Ball Jutsu!" I yelled. A ball that resembled a large rasengan surrounded the snakes. It wasn't chakra, though, it was wind, making a prison that they couldn't escape from.

With the snakes subdued, I turned my attention to my opponents. Kabuto charged at me, with his palm glowing a light blue. I knew what that meant - he was going to use taijutsu. I had to stay long range and use long range attacks. I jumped back, landing on the branch of the only tree in the entire clearing.

"I'm getting tired of this, Orochimaru," Itachi said. The bastard sounded bored! He looked at me in the tree. "Fire Style: Roaring Flame Sphere!" Sasuke used that jutsu before! While Sasuke's was only about the size of a rasengan usually, this one was the size of a meteor! Before it could hit the tree, I escaped. The ball obliterated the tree.

Itachi stepped forward. "Kabuto," he began, "Step down.." Kabuto looked from Itachi to Naruto to Orochimaru before retreating to his master. Itachi turned back to me. "You won't get out of this alive." He did another hand sign. "Water Style: Typhoon Jutsu."

I did a similar hand sign before saying, "Wind Style: Tornado Jutsu." Two tornados appeared, one made out of wind that I summoned, and one made out of water that he summoned. They were about the same size, and they met in the middle of our battlefield, colliding in a spectacular burst of air and water.

"You beat me last time," I growled, "but not again."

_Naruto,_ I heard a voice say. But it wasn't outloud, it was within me. _You cannot beat the three of them without some help_.It was the Nine-Tailed Fox.

**What do you mean?** I asked it.

_Let me take control of your body for a bit. I can use my immense chakra to destroy them._

**I'm not stupid!** I yelled at it. **I know what you're capable of.**

_I will only release my Four Tailed Form. You will be surrounded by solid chakra. My will will be strong enough to fight them, but weak enough to submit to you if you wish to take over. I won't be the full-fledged fox._

**No!** I yelled. **I'm not letting you out!** I shut the fox out, focusing on Itachi. But part of me thought that I would need the fox's help at some point or another.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" There were hundreds of me surrounding Itachi, and we all began the rasengan. Two of us charged at him, but he grabbed both by their wrists before any damage could be done. While he was preoccupied, the others ran in towards Itachi to destroy him with rasengan. He swung my two clones by their wrists, effectively eliminating the threats of the other clones. He then threw the two he used as weapons to the ground, destroying the last of my shadow clones.

"Nice try, Uzumaki," he drawled, "but you'll need to do better if you wish to survive."

The first thought that came to my mind was to summon Gamabunta, but then I remembered that he had died. Gama could probably help, but he's grieving. I can't do that to him now. Plus, there was a good chance he wouldn't make it out of here either.

The thought of letting the fox take over crossed my mind again. But I couldn't do it. If I gave him an inch, he'd take a mile. I couldn't free him. Not until it was life or death.

"You think that's all I've got?" I asked. "You haven't seen nothing yet!"

Orochimaru stepped forward. "Itachi," he began, "this is taking too long. I'm going to finish him right now." Itachi moved - it looked more like he teleported - back to where Kabuto was. Orochimaru licked his lips and stared at me. He bit his thumb and put it to the ground. "Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation."

Four boxes rose out of the ground in front of Orochimaru - two on his left, and two on his right. I could distinctly hear Kabuto chuckling. The boxes - which I now realized were coffins - opened up, revealing four men.

"First Lord Hokage," Orochimaru said, as the man in the coffin on the far left stepped forward. "Second Lord Hokage," he continued, as the second Hokage began to stepp out of his coffin. "Third Lord Hokage," he said. It was the only Hokage I knew in person, and he stepped out. "Fourth Lord Hokage," he said with a mischievous smile. The fourth Hokage stepped out of the coffin and looked at me. The four looked around.

"Sarutobi," the First Hokage said. "It's been a long time."

"Orochimaru!" The Third Hokage said in a calm rage, "how dare you use this jutsu again to force us to fight." He looked at who he was to be facing. "And against Naruto Uzumaki, no less."

The Fourth Hokage looked up sharply. "Naruto," he began.

"And using the Fourth to fight his own son," The Third Hokage continued. "You're a monster."

The Fourth Hokage's son? I was...the son...of the Fourth Hokage? That explains why the pervy sage compared me to him. And why we had the same hair and eyes. Come to think of it, it made perfect sense. But I couldn't believe it. Of all the times to be paralyzed by shock, this was by far the worst.

"Naruto," The Fourth Hokage said again.

"Shut up, you fool," Orochimaru hissed. He took out four kunai and stuck them in the backs of the Hokage. Their appearances were the same as theirs when they died, but they looked more...dull. They seemed to be washed out in grey.

The Hokage looked at me.

"I'm sorry, son," The Fourth Hokage said before charging at me with a kunai.

"Dad?" I asked. I was barely able to dodge before he got me. The Third Hokage came behind me to attack, but I jumped again. But the Second Hokage was right behind me, and he struck me to the ground.

I got back up. "Orochimaru," I said, "you're using the Hokage to fight me. You must be a coward."

He snarled at me. "You can't bait me, brat!" he yelled. The Hokage began to converge, so I did my shadow clone jutsu. We split up, hoping to confuse the Hokage. One of me - a clone - began the rasengan against the First Hokage.

"Forgive me," I said before striking him in the gut. He flew back, hitting the ground. Another clone of mine did the same to the Second Hokage. The third caught on, and he caught my wrist before throwing me into the ground. The two clones who defeated the first two Hokage helped me do an Uzumaki Barrage, but the Third Hokage once again evaded.

Meanwhile, the real me was continuing to dodge the moves of the Fourth Hokage - my dad. I couldn't bring myself to hurt him, even if he was dead. I couldn't do it. I had just found him, and I couldn't do it. He began the rasengan and charged at me. I decided to use a ransengan to counter, and our rasengan collided.

After a brief stalemate, we were both pushed back far. My clones facing the Third Hokage were defeated, leaving the Third and Fourth Hokage teaming up against me.

"Wind Style: Whirlwind Ball Jutsu!" I yelled, and the ball of wind surrounded the Hokage. The Third Hokage used a fire style jutsu to disrupt it, though, and they were freed. They came at me. "Wind Style: Tornado Jutsu!" I yelled, and a tornado began around the Hokage. One of my jutsu had to succeed against them. They were thrown out of the tornado, and they landed next to the First and Second Hokage. "Take that, Orochimaru."

He smiled, and the Four Hokage all got up, as if I hadn't even hit them. My chakra was getting low, and I wouldn't be able to fight for much longer. I drew upon much of the Nine-Tailed Chakra, but I knew it wouldn't be enough for much. I felt the red chakra empower me, and I did another hand sign.

"Wind Style: Shuriken Tornado!" I was swept up in the familiar wind of the tornado and let out many shuriken, hoping they would hit the mark. As the tornado died, I realized that the sheer speed of the shuriken couldn't be avoided, as each of the Hokage had at least two shuriken in them. The First had two, the Second had three, the third had two, and the Fourth had four.

"You won't be able to hurt them, fool," Orochimaru hissed. The Four Hokage pulled the shuriken out, and threw them to the ground. I growled, before realizing that I needed much more help from the Nine-Tailed Fox.

**Fine,** I said. **I'll do it. You can take over for now. But so help me, if you do ANYTHING...**

_Don't worry,_ it said. _You'll thank me for this later._

I felt the red chakra swallow me up, as I became the fox. My body became a mere exoskeleton, as the fox's chakra became solid around me. The fox was in control now.

Orochimaru and Kabuto looked shocked. The four Hokage were just as shocked. Itachi, of course, was emotionless, but even I can tell he hadn't anticipated it.

I snarled again, before leaping in the air. The four Hokage were now on defense, and I had them right where I wanted them. Using jutsu would be hard because my hands were now used as paws, but it was doable. I don't know where the jutsu came from, but instinct had me do four unfamiliar hand signs.

"Demon Style: Demon Death Dance Jutsu!" I roared. Chakra exploded out of me, and I raced toward the Hokage. They all dodged, but the area that I had hit became a huge crater. I turned around to face the Hokage and Orochimaru.

He was upset, which meant that he was losing. He then settled on a smile, as the four Hokage all preformed the same hand sign.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" they yelled, and millions of shadow clones surrounded me. I could tell this would be hard, but doable. As they converged, I noticed something.

They came in waves. When the first wave had pinned me to the ground, they exploded, courtesy of paper bombs on each of their backs. It barely phased me. But as more and more waves of shadow clones did the same thing, my power whittled away, until finally, the four original Hokage were left. They converged on me in my weakened state, and exploded just the same.

They were pawns in Orochimaru's game. I felt the Nine-Tails chakra fade, as I returned to my normal state. I was too weak and beat up to do anything, and I was at the mercy of Orochimaru, who had taken out his Sword of Kusanagi, and had it pointed at me.

"This is the end for you, Naruto Uzumaki," Orochimaru said. He licked his lips. Man, that was getting annoying!

"STOP!" I heard two people scream at once. In between me and Orochimaru were Sakura and Sasuke, kunai in hand.

"If you want to kill Naruto," Sakura began.

"You have to get through us," Sasuke said.

"S-Sasuke," I said.

**Chapter Twelve**

**Part Two:**

Sakura Haruno had never been the strongest ninja. But, she was a quick thinker, and she excersized perfect chakra control. She was a brilliant kunoichi in many ways.

However, her training left a large gap in her ninjutsu - she only knew basic ninjutsu. She would need to learn new techniques if she stood a chance at being any help in her missions. Sakura knew this, and so did her mother.

Today, they were down at breakfast. Sakura's father had left the house early, leaving the two women alone.

"Sakura," her mother began. Sakura looked up. "I want to show you something."

That's how the two ended up by the river in the Hidden Leaf Village. Sakura honestly had no idea what was going on, but she didn't really have anything to do, so she just decided to go along with it.

"So what is it you want to show me?" she asked, obviously bored.

"I want to show you the secrets of the Haruno clan."

"But, Mom, we don't have a clan," she argued.

"That's where you're wrong," her mother told her. "Sakura, sit down."

"The Haruno Clan was once a major clan in the Village Hidden in the Rocks in the Land of Earth. Before the First Great Shinobi War, the Tsuchikage at the time decided to use our clan as weapons. We had a strong kekkei genkai, the ability to bend the Earth to our will. Some of the clan was unhappy being used as a weapon, so we fled the village.

"The village sent shinobi after our people during the exodus, and we were split. There are few members of the clan left, most of them having fled to the Land of Water. Your great-grandfather and your great-grandmother, along with three others, came to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and were accepted as refugees.

"Now, I will show you how to use our kekkei genkai. I've waited so long because it doesn't fully mature until the age of fifteen. Do you understand everything I've told you?"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Sakura asked, somewhat angrily. "I have a right to know what happened to my family!"

"Your father and I agreed that we wouldn't tell you until you could use the kekkei genkai, called Earth Puppetry," her mother said. "That's why I brought you out here."

So this was why her father and mother never taught her any advanced jutsu. That's why whenever Sakura asked what her elemental release was, her parents would overlook it.

_Maybe I'm not as useless as I thought. Maybe if I learn how to use this Earth Puppetry, I could be of some use in my squad._

"How do I use this 'Earth Puppetry'?" she asked her mother. 

OoOoOoOoO

"Sakura!" came the yell of a certain brunette academy student.

"What do you want, Konohamaru?" she asked him. "I'm in a rush."

"I just wanted to know if you've seen Naruto anywhere," he told the pink haired beauty.

"I-I can't-he's on a mission," she managed to choke out. She couldn't quite tell him that Naruto left the village and should be considered a missing ninja right about now. That wouldn't go over well.

"Well, where are you going?" he asked.

"I need to see Lord Hokage," she told him. "I'm requesting a special mission. Why do you need to see Naruto?" she asked.

"Udon, Moegi and I graduated the academy today!" he said, excited. "I wanted to show him my cool new headband."

"That's good for you," she said. "Who's your sensei?"

"Ebisu," he told the girl. "I wish we had a better teacher."

"It's been nice talking to you, Konohamaru, but I'm really in a rush," she told him, before rushing off.

"But," he began after she left, "you dropped your weapon pouch. I guess I'll have to return it." 

OoOoOoOoO

"I know Naruto has left the village," Jiraya told Sakura after she burst into his office.

Okay, time to backtrack. Sakura came with the intention of requesting a mission - to bring back Naruto and Sasuke. Jiraya was none too surprised that the teens had fled the village, but he insisted they weren't missing ninja.

"Listen," he began, "Naruto was a student of mine. I know he and Sasuke left the village without permission. But if I said that, he'd be breaking the law, and he could be put to death if he returned. That's why, when I was informed of this development, I faked a mission that I supposedly sent them on."

"But Lord Hokage!" Sakura yelled. "That's illegal! And even if what they did is now legal, you need someone to bring them back."

"And you're going to do this all by yourself?" Jiraya asked.

"She'll have me, old man!" came the voice of a new genin at the doorway.

"Konohamaru!" Sakura yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"You dropped your weapons pouch, so I thought I'd bring it to you." He handed Sakura the pouch. Jiraya was glaring at the kid.

"Listen, kid, I'm not your grandfather. You can't burst in on my meetings calling me 'old man' like you did with Sarutobi Sensei. It's disrespectful."

"Naruto calls you the pervy sage," Sakura muttered, eliciting a glare from Jiraya.

"So I'm supposed to send a chunin and a genin on an A ranked mission all alone?" he asked.

"I'm great at camouflage," Konohamaru bragged. "We could probably find them and stay hidden long enough to bring them back."

"Fine," Jiraya said. "But I'm putting another chunin on your team - Shikamaru Nara."

"You can't!" Sakura yelled. "The only person who could reach those two are me." After a mock cough from the brunette behind her, she added, "and Konohamaru."

"Lord knows why," Jiraya sighed, "but fine. You have two weeks to bring Naruto and Sasuke back."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Sakura said. "Konohamaru, meet me at the gate in half an hour." 

OoOoOoOoO

"I can't believe we woke up late!" she yelled. "We'll never catch up to Naruto and Kabuto now! For all we know, they've found Sasuke already and are looking for us!"

"We can catch up," Konohamaru told her. "Remember, they have to stop to fight Kabuto before coming back."

"Let's just pack up and get going," Sakura sulked. "If Naruto needed our help, we're of no use here."

They packed up and headed towards the general direction that Naruto and Kabuto headed in. Naruto's plan to pretend to be Orochimaru to get Kabuto to lead him to Sasuke was smart. But they didn't count on falling behind after the first night because of oversleeping.

After about an hour of traveling, the two were lost.

"We'll never find them!" Sakura yelled in exasperation. "It's over."

Before Konohamaru could respond, they saw an orange flash in the trees - the glow of fire.

"Sakura," Konohamaru began, "you don't think Naruto got into a fight, do you?"

"Let's go check," she said.

They headed towards the direction of the flash, to the outskirts of a clearing. She saw four coffins above the ground in front of Orochimaru. Behind him were Kabuto and...Itachi? And Naruto was battling them all alone!

"We have to help him," she said.

"No, wait," Konohamaru said. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to a rustling bush about twenty meters away.

"Let's check it out," Sakura said. "For all we know, it's a trap to distract Naruto from the battle."

As the two shinobi skirted around the clearing, the finally found the bush, and someone hiding in it. The person was too engrossed in watching the battle, as Naruto fought off the First and Second Hokage who appeared with the Third and Fourth from the coffins.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled before Konohamaru could silence her. Luckily, no one in the battle heard over the noise of the fighting.

Sasuke turned his head. "Sakura! Konohamaru! What are you doing here?"

"We've been looking for you with Naruto," Sakura told him. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I've been following you guys, knowing that you'd lead me to Itachi. And I was right."

"How long have you -" Sakura began.

"I've been following you since the Sound Village. I've been watching the battle since the beginning."

"And you haven't helped Naruto?" she asked.

"When he needs help, I'll help him. It's best not to give up the element of surprise," he said plainly.

"We need to help him," she said, as Naruto turned into a red, fox-like creature. "We'll probably need more help than just ourselves. Konohamaru, go back to the village to get reinforcements."

"But what about-" he began to protest.

"Sasuke and I will hold them off. Request Lord Hokage, Lady Tsunade, and Might Guy. Tell them Orochimaru and Itachi are here."

Konohamaru pouted before leaving to get help. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura watched millions of Hokage shadow clones converge on Naruto, before blowing up. It seemed like forever until the original four latched onto Naruto and blew up, throwing him back into the ground.

The coffins turned to dust as Orochimaru stepped forward with a sword in his hand. "This is the end for you, Naruto Uzumaki," he said, licking his lips.

"Now!" Sasuke yelled, and we appeared in between the sannin and our teammate, kunai in hand.

"If you want to kill Naruto," Sakura began.

"You have to get through us," Sasuke said.

"S-Sasuke," Naruto whispered before passing out.

**Author's Note: Okay, I know this wasn't exactly an amazing chapter, and I know that I made it a little weird with Sakura's new jutsu and stuff. If anything's unclear, leave a review and I'll try to fix it. Even if it's to just tell me how awful this chapter was, I love reviews. Favorites and alerts are like meat to my Naruto, but reviews are like ramen. And I'm **_**really**_** hungry right now.**

**Also, I think we're past the half way point here. There will be less action after the next chapter and there will be more angst/drama and a lot more romance. So please don't be discouraged by this awful chapter. Even if you guys deserve more after waiting such a long time for it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Okay, so for Halloween, I went trick or treating as Masashi Kishimoto, so can I say that I owned Naruto for a little bit? No? Oh well. I don't own him.**

**Author's Note: Truth be told, I wrote this the other day right after I posted the last one. I felt so bad for all of you having to wait so long for such a crappy chapter that I decided to give you guys something good, and I tried to make it as quick as possible.**

Chapter Thirteen:

I had to fight to stay conscious. I had just seen Sasuke again - I couldn't faint. Summoning the last of my strength, I opened my eyes and stood up.

Orochimaru must have jumped back in the few seconds while I was out, and Sakura and Sasuke were ready to battle. Itachi and Kabuto appeared next to Orochimaru.

"Brother," Sasuke said with venom in his voice. "I will kill you this time."

"Kabuto," Orochimaru began, "kill the girl."

Sasuke and Itachi began to battle while Kabuto and Sakura battled, leaving me to deal with Orochimaru.

He turned to face me. With his sword in his hand, he stared into my eyes with pure bloodlust until we heard a blood curdling scream from Kabuto. I turned my head sharply, and I saw Sakura's hands in the ground, and a few meters ahead of her was a giant arm made out of rock which was squeezing Kabuto.

Sakura shifted her hands underground, and the rock hand let go of Kabuto before swatting his falling body across the clearing. She pulled her hands out of the ground and sharply penetrated it again, sending a wave of rocks through the ground, heading straight for Kabuto's fallen body.

"Don't ever underestimate me," Sakura said.

"K-Kabuto," Orochimaru whimpered in horror at the limp body of his partner. "You're going to pay for that."

Sasuke and Itachi continued to battle, and it looked like Sasuke had the upper hand with his Fire Style: Flaming Kunai Jutsu. I turned to Orochimaru, who took his Sword of Kusanagi and charged at Sakura. She knelt to the ground and put her hands in the ground.

"Ninja Art: Earth Manipulation Jutsu!" The ground began to shoot up stalagmites trying to hit Orochimaru, but he continued to dodge while making his way to Sakura. I had to do something, but I was still pretty beat up from battling before.

I ran to help Sakura, but Orochimaru got to her first. He stabbed her with the Sword of Kusanagi, but she turned to stone, and the sword was stuck in the rock. Sakura came out from the bushes and put her hands in the ground again.

"A Rock Clone!" Orochimaru snarled. He released the sword to flee, but Sakura erected a dome around him, preventing his escape. I turned to see Itachi and Sasuke fighting. Itachi was beginning to turn things around with his water jutsu prevailing over Sasuke's fire jutstu. I decided that since Sakura had Orochimaru under control, I'd help Sasuke.

I had to summon the last of the Fox's chakra to make myself useful in battle, but it was worth it. I raced to the Uchiha battle just in time. Itachi had grabbed Sasuke and thrown him to the ground.

"Wind Style: Whirlwind Ball Jutsu!" I yelled. The giant ball of wind knocked into Itachi, sending him flying.

"Stop interfering!" Sasuke yelled. "I have to kill him myself to avenge my clan!"

"Let me help you! You don't need to do this alone!" I shouted back.

"It isn't your clan to avenge," he said before doing a handsign. "But thanks for your jutsu. Fire Style: Flaming Whirlwind Ball Jutsu!" I guess when your mentor was Kakashi, you become a grade A copycat. He released a ball of fiery wind just like mine just seconds ago. Instead of blowing Itachi away, it consumed him, leaving him in a prison of fire as he screamed. He tried to perform a water style jutsu, but he couldn't.

"Help!" Sakura shrieked from behind me. We both turned around to see Orochimaru holding the Sword of Kusanagi against Sakura's neck. I looked at the dome that had imprisoned him and I wasn't all that surprised to see that he had broken it into pebbles.

"Sakura!" I yelled. I ran towards them while Sasuke focused himself on finishing off Itachi.

"One more step and she dies," Orochimaru said with a smile.

"Fine by me," I said, causing Sakura and Orochimaru to look at me like I was crazy. Okay, maybe that was a stupid bluff to make, but their shocked faces allowed me to send a clone of mine to sneak up behind him.

I couldn't do anything drastic because he was too close to Sakura. I needed to take control of the situation, and fast. I pulled out a kunai and used wind style jutsu to dull the blade. "Why don't I take care of that for you?" I asked, throwing the dulled kunai at Sakura. It barely pierced her skin, but it shocked Orochimaru enough that my clone was able to attack

"Rasengan!" I/he yelled, pushing the ball of flowing chakra into Orochimaru's back, sending him flying across the field. I ran over to Sakura to make sure she was okay, but she smiled and told me to finish him off. She did some medical ninjutsu and her arm healed within seconds.

My clone ran to pick up the sword that Orochimaru dropped, and he threw it to me. I made him disappear before running towards Orochimaru, who had just picked himself up. I ran, ready to run the sword right through him, but I was stopped when he grabbed the blade.

"You will never be able to kill me," he said gripping the blade. He sent me a creepy smile that made me wonder if he's a registered sex offender. Quite frankly, I don't think it would surprise anyone. I smiled back at him when he realized what I had done, and the look of horror on his face was evident.

The sword transformed into my clone, who kicked Orochimaru back into a rock. A third clone of mine with the real sword began to attack Orochimaru. I grabbed his wrists to keep him from moving, and my clone stabbed him with the sword. Orochimaru coughed blood onto my face before my clone disappeared and I let go. He fell to the ground.

I just killed Orochimaru. With his own weapon. I guess I had come farther than I thought in my training if I could kill him. Then again, thinking of Orochimaru, I've never seen him battle in a fair fight. He usually had Kabuto or some other followers by his side. Maybe isolating him was all I needed.

Another scream caught my attention. I turned from Orochimaru's body to see Kabuto, who had regained consciousness, holding Sakura by her hair. He had his chakra concentrated in his hand, and he looked ready to kill.

I tried to summon up enough chakra for some more clones, but I was completely out. I'd have to rely on taijutsu, which meant I was screwed. I couldn't help but watch as Sakura tried to take control of the situation, which actually worked out.

Kabuto landed a blow that would have been deadly had she not used a substitution jutsu first. The real Sakura came up behind him and got ready to attack, but he threw a scalpel at her first. Well, it turns out, that wasn't the real Sakura either. I was pleasantly surprised to see the scalpel pass right through her clone, as the real Sakura threw two kunai in his back from behind.

If you think that would stop Kabuto, you might have sniffed a little too much paint. Looking at Kabuto's smile, I wondered if the age old adage that humans begin to look like their pets is true about master and servant, because Kabuto's smile could have passed as Orochimaru's it was so creepy!

I turned to look at Sasuke's battle, which had changed drastically. Somehow, Itachi escaped from his prison and was fighting Sasuke in taijutsu. I guess even Itachi must be skilled at more than just ninjutsu. They were pretty evenly matched until Itachi caught Sasuke off guard by poking him in the forehead. Sasuke's eyes widened as Itachi sent him flying to the ground.

Turning to Sakura, I saw her faring no better as she was merely dodging Kabuto, who wasn't giving her enough time to use her jutsu. I couldn't help at all, being completely drained. I was starting to feel dizzy until I remembered I had an energy bar in my pocket. Okay, I know what you're thinking – 'you're watching your best friends battle two incredibly strong ninja and lose, so why are you thinking about food at a time like this?', right?

Well, it's a good thing I thought of it, because I felt much better after it. I was even able to summon up some chakra for a jutsu to help out Sakura. I did a shadow clone jutsu, and before Kabuto could say 'Ichiraku', I was on him like white on rice. With Kabuto on the defensive, and still a little injured from before, Sakura was able to take control of the situation with whatever earth style jutsu she used before.

Kabuto was pretty much finished, which drew our attention to Itachi and Sasuke. Who would have thought Sasuke would have lasted that long after last time. But the strangest thing was that they weren't fighting. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say they were just _glaring_ at each other.

"Genjutsu," Sakura whispered. She and I ran to help him, but Itachi appeared beside me. He grabbed be and twisted my arm back, breaking it. I screamed out.

The pain was so intense. I had never felt pain like that in my life, and coming from someone who almost died a few times, that's saying something. Sasuke must have heard my scream through the genjuts and turned to see Itachi holding me. Sakura did her earth jutsu (I made a mental note to ask her about it later), causing another stalagmite to pop out to hit Itachi. He dodged, taking me with him. I guess I was a hostage, now.

Hey, wait…if I was a hostage, then I was the damsel in distress. That means Sasuke would have to save me. If it wasn't so real and dangerous, I might have thought it was kinky. Gah! What was I thinking! I'm being held prisoner by an S-ranked criminal and I'm thinking about Sasuke being strong and protective? Something was definitely wrong.

I looked around for Sasuke, but I couldn't see him - he just disappeared! Where the hell was he? I guess Itachi noticed the same thing because he was looking around too. I was panicking - without Sasuke, Itachi could just take me and leave. Sakura was severely weakened by Orochimaru and Kabuto, and I couldn't battle with a broken arm and a lack of chakra. And I wish those birds would stop chirping!

Wait!

Those aren't birds. That's...

"Chidori!" Sasuke's voice rang out around the clearing as he slammed his fist into Itachi's side, freeing me and sending his brother flying. He skid to the ground until he hit a tree on the outskirt of the clearing. I pulled myself up to see Sasuke, who was holding the Sword of Kusanagi, stab his brother, finally avenging his clan.

"Bravo," the pervy sage said stepping out of a bush on the other side of the clearing. "I haven't seen such a good battle since the three sannin fought in the Second Great Shinobi War."

"It was a most impressive battle, showing that the power of youth can conquer all," said Might Guy, who stepped out after Jiraya. He put a thumbs up in our direction and smiled at us.

Finally, Grandma Tsunade came out from the bush and said, "Eh, not bad." 

OoOoOoOoO

Word of us beating Kabuto, Orochimaru and Itachi spread fast throughout the Hidden Leaf Village when we got back. Grandma Tsunade healed me up quick, but I can't train for a week. Sakura and Sasuke didn't have many injuries, but it would take a while for all my chakra and the fox's chakra to recover.

Just as the pervy sage, Orochimaru, and Grandma Tsunade became known as the Sannin after battling in the Second Great Shinobi War, we were given a title - the three Senshi (1). We returned to the village, and there was a big party, but I couldn't stay for long – I was too injured. At least Sakura was injured right along with me (jeez, that sounded better in my head than it did coming out of my…well…mind).

Things seemed to be going extremely well for us, until I remembered something - Sasuke is in love with me...and I might have feelings for him, too. Yeah, that's _just_ what I need right now. I sighed.

I decided to talk to Iruka again. He said he wanted to hear what happened over ramen later, so I would just talk to him then. Until then, I had something else to do.

I've always been straight. In order to have feelings for Sasuke, I'd have to be attracted to him. To be attracted to him, I'd have to be at least bi, if not gay. So I just had to test myself out and see if I was attracted to dudes.

I couldn't think of a very good way to do it, though. I decided to go to the adult magazine store in town, but that wouldn't work. After our battle, everyone knew us. I think a lot of people would be shocked to hear I bought magazines of nude men from a store. There was only one solution - Sexy Jutsu.

I had to adapt it to look a little older - old enough to be allowed to buy it. I went into the store, and carefully picked out a few magazines with shirtless guys on the cover. After browsing, I noticed that there were a lot of magazines with nude guys! Who knew? I also took a few with topless women. I paid for it, and left in a hurry. I don't care if no one would know it was me - it was still embarrassing.

When I got back to my apartment I started looking through a magazine with women. I guess I was still attracted to women because I got a boner pretty fast. I tossed it to the side. Now for the real test.

I opened up one who's centerfold featured a really muscular guy who seemed to be in the middle of jacking off. I didn't realize it, but I was subconsciously licking my lips. I turned the page to see a picture of two muscular guys - naked - kissing. I shut it quickly when I realized my bulge was growing even more so now!

I guess that answered my question. I must be bi. I had put the magazines to the side when I heard a knock on my door.

"Naruto, it's Shikamaru," I heard the bored teen say from outside my door. "Open up!"

I shuffled the all the magazines under my couch before getting up to let Shikamaru in.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I came to apologize," he said. "A few weeks ago I went off on you when you broke up with Sakura. I knew it wasn't your fault."

"Why didn't you apologize sooner?" I asked.

"I had other things to do, and it's too troublesome to drag myself over here when I don't know whether you'll even be here or not," he said.

"How'd you know I'd be here now?" I asked.

"I saw you coming out of the magazine store," he said with a smirk. "Remember, Naruto, I was the first person to see your sexy jutsu. You were so excited to show somebody, and I was the closest one around."

"Right," I said, a little embarrassed.

"So what did you pick up anyway?" he asked. "I don't see any magazines littering your apartment. I doubt you threw them away." I saw him glance towards the sofa, before widening his eyes a fraction. I turned around and saw the corner of a gay porn magazine sticking out from under the sofa. I prayed to god he didn't see it.

He started to go back towards the door. "If you ever need to talk to me, just find me," he said. "I'll probably be doing nothing. Oh, and congrats on the battle, by the way." He stepped through the door frame.

"Thanks," I said with a dryness in my throat.

"See you around." And with that, he left me alone. I felt my cheeks burn up. He suspected something. I just knew it! I should have put them away more carefully! I silently wished that he wouldn't tell anybody. 

OoOoOoOoO

"Apparently, Sakura's clan has a kekkei genkai that involves the Earth, and she used that to kill Kabuto and trap Orochimaru. Orochimaru escaped and turned the tables on her, so I turned the tables on him and killed him with his own sword. We had to fight Kabuto again, but that wasn't that hard. Oh, and then Itachi grabbed me and broke my arm, but Sasuke saved me by killing him."

"Wow," Iruka said, "so I guess you've really been through a tough battle."

"Tell me about it," I said with a smile. I had just finished my fourth bowl of ramen. Iruka was almost half way done with his first. I decided to get the talking about the battle over very quickly so I could talk to him about Sasuke. I just didn't know how to start the conversation.

"So you left the Leaf Village, consequences be damned, to chase after Sasuke, who, last I heard had freaked you out because he was secretly in love with you," Iruka said in one breath. I guess that was one way that the topic could be brought up.

"Well," I said, "the day before he left, he confessed to me, and I let him down as easily as I could."

"Good," he said.

"But then I saw him talking to Kakashi's grave about how love was just a waste of time, and how revenge is all that matters. That's when he left, and I knew I had to stop him."

"Because you felt guilty," Iruka nodded in understanding. "You shouldn't feel guilty, Naruto. You can't force yourself to feel something you don't feel."

"That's the thing - love," I said. I needed to broach the topic that maybe I _do_ feel something for him.

"Have you met someone else?" he asked, excited. "What's her name?"

"Nope," I said. "Haven't met a girl who I like yet."

"Oh," he said. "Is it a guy?" I blushed furiously. "Naruto, you can tell me anything. You know that."

"I know," I said. "But I'm not in love with a guy." I don't know why I decided to lie, but it just came out. Which was weird, considering that the whole point of this was to tell Iruka. I guess it's one of those things that is better thought out than executed.

"Then what did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"I-I..." I stuttered. I didn't know whether the gods were saving me or dooming me, but something was able to pull me away from the awkward conversation.

"Hey, Naruto!" I heard a husky voice say from behind me. I turned around to see the raven haired boy with the onyx eyes who was making me question everything.

"S-Sasuke!" I said. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you," he said with no emotion piercing his voice. Damn, how did he do that? My throat was dry, and my palms were sweating. Did he have some sort of super power?

I turned to Iruka, who nodded at me. "I'll pay up. Come see me tomorrow if you still want to talk." I nodded, and left with Sasuke. We went back to his place - which I just remembered was now across the hall from my apartment. In the excitement of the battle, I had forgotten all about Ishichi burning Sasuke's house down.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked after he closed the door.

"The day that I left," he said, "I told you that I loved you." I had been trying to avoid this conversation for days, but I guess it had to happen eventually.

"I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry," he continued. "I shouldn't have told you. I understand if you don't want to be my friend, knowing that...knowing how I feel about you."

"Sasuke," I said, "you're my best friend. That will never change." He visibly relaxed. Well, I don't know how visible it would be to the naked eye. I guess in all my time as his friend, I just learned to read Uchiha body language. Maybe I'll write a book so that it won't be so hard for other people.

"Naruto," he whispered. "I promise I won't make you uncomfortable, and I promise I won't mention this again. But first, I need to do something."

He stepped closer to me, and grabbed my cheeks. His onyx eyes stared deeply into my cerulean eyes, before he closed them and leaned forward. I felt the pressure on my lips as my eyes fluttered closed. I tried to pull away, but after a second, I gave into it, pressing my lips back against his.

He smiled into the kiss, and he licked my lower lip, requesting entrance. He took his hands from my cheeks and he pulled me by my waist into him. I gasped at the wonderful friction our hips made, and he took the opportunity to plunge his tongue into my mouth.

He explored my mouth with his tongue for a few seconds before I decided to try to take control of the kiss. I invaded his mouth with my tongue, and we explored each other's mouths for what seemed like hours. I was horrified, but not surprised, to feel a bulge growing in my pants as he deepened the kiss. He pulled away and looked in my eyes before leaning in again.

The severity of what was happening hit me as I saw him closing the gap between our mouths again, and I pushed him away. He was visibly shocked as he fell to the ground. I heard an audible gasp, but I couldn't keep this going on.

"I-I'm sorry, S-Sasuke," I said. "I have to go." I tore out of his room like a bat out of hell, and didn't breathe again until I reached the solitude of my apartment.

**(1) I just liked the idea of this…I don't know why…call me weird.**

**Author's Note: SO much happened this chapter. We saw Sasuke (really saw him) for the first time in a while, we had Naruto begin to admit his feelings for Sasuke, and (need I remind you?) the kiss. I hope you guys liked it. I'm pretty sure there will only be a few more chapters, but who knows.**

**Oh, and don't ask me where I got the idea for the porn magazines. I just thought it up. So review and tell me what you think. I want at least seven reviews…do you think y'all can manage that? I hope you guys liked this one as much as I did.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own Naruto. Now excuse me while some men in white coats interrupt me to give me my medicine.**

**Author's Note: This was the last chapter I had pre-written, but like most of them, I had to rewrite a lot of it. I also want to address something a reviewer told me. Someone said that it's a little weird that Sasuke isn't upset about killing Itachi, even though in the canon he is. Well, there's a slight difference because in canon, Itachi didn't try to kill him…twice. They redeemed Itachi by making him the good guy in the Uchiha massacre. I didn't, so the dynamics are totally different. Also, I'd like to apologize in advance for all the switches in POV…it starts off like usual, but it gets confusing, so sorry about that.**

Chapter Fourteen:  
I wouldn't have had much of a problem with what happened except for the fact that I ended it. Why did I do that exactly? I mean, I can admit to myself that I'm bi, so why does this freak me out so much? Why does the idea of Sasuke and I together freak me out so much?

I know he loves me, but do I love him? If I didn't love him, then why can't I imagine my life without him? Ever since last night when we kissed, any time I pictured my future, I pictured him right there with me. Was that love? What was love exactly?

Oh…a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. But that doesn't help me at all…who says dictionaries are useful? I still don't even know how I feel about Sasuke. I know it's more than just friendship, though. I don't feel the same way about Choji, Kiba or Shikamaru as I do about Sasuke. I almost died inside when I thought Sasuke died. Was this really love?

I needed to speak to someone. I know Iruka probably planned on hearing from me soon after what happened yesterday. And then there's Shikamaru, who probably had a little more than an inkling about my sexuality, but had no idea about Sasuke. I could probably talk to Jiraya, but he's so busy, and he'd morph my issues into some gay edition of Icha Icha Paradise. No, it was either Iruka or Shikamaru.

I sighed heavily before deciding who I needed to speak to. Obviously it was Iruka, because he was more familiar with the situation. But Ichiraku was to public…I needed him to come to me or to go to his place. Come to think of it, I didn't even know where he lived. On a regular day I'd go to the academy to find him, but the academy was off today.

Shikamaru it was.

I arrived outside the Nara residence way too nervous to even knock.

"Whatcha doin'?" a bored voice asked from behind me. I turned to see Shikamaru standing there, and I realized how stupid I looked. I was just standing in front of his door staring at it. That would look pretty strange. But I guess Shika just shrugged it off.

"Um…I came here to look for you," I said nervously. Shikamaru and I were friends, but we weren't all that _close_. Maybe this was a bad idea. But heck, he probably saw my gay porn, so it's a moot point.

"I figured you would at some point," he shrugged. He walked up and opened the door. "Wanna come in?" he asked. I followed him into the living room. Luckily, his parents were out, so we were all alone.

"Before I say anything, I need you to promise you won't tell anyone," I said.

He shrugged. "If I wanted to tell someone, I would have as soon as I left your apartment." I couldn't stop the tingling that I felt creeping up my cheeks. How come he had to be such a genius! Why couldn't it be Kiba? He wouldn't notice the magazine! Damn Shikamaru with his damn high IQ.

"Fine," I conceded. "I guess you guessed that I'm bi, then?" I asked. He nodded, which really pissed me off. He knew everything. At least Sasuke being gay would surprise him! Ha! "Well, I have this problem." He arched his eyebrows.

"No one's going to care," Shikamaru said. "Even a meathead like Kiba will tease you, punch your shoulder and laugh it off."

"That's not my problem," I assured him. "I found out that…someone…really likes me. I mean, like, they love me…and I don't know what to do."

"I assume you're talking about a guy, because you wouldn't nearly be this freaked out if it was a girl," he said. "And considering who you're closest with, I'm going to assume you're talking about Sasuke." He must have just washed his floor, because it wasn't the least bit dirty when my jaw hit it in that moment. "Sasuke isn't very open with his feelings, so you must have had to pull it out of him, which would mean this has been an issue for a while. Furthermore, it was probably what caused your questioning of your sexuality, and you're currently wondering if you're in love with him too." He paused. "Am I right?"

Still shell shocked over his expert analysis, I dumbly nodded my head. He decided this was a perfect time to continue. "You don't want to reject him, but you don't want to give him false hope, either. If it was up to you, the situation would disappear before you had to make a choice, but life isn't like that. You must be attracted to him on some level, and you must like him at least a little if you're considering loving him. You don't want him to get his hopes up, but you don't want to let him slip away." Damn, did he take a psychology class, or am I just an open book?

"You need to just do what your gut tells you to do," the brunette concluded. "If you really like him, then ask him out. See where it goes. If it goes nowhere, then oh well…at least you tried. If you don't take a chance, you'll always wonder."

I was so sure he would be thrown off by my situation. But he completely psychoanalyzed the situation in less than fifteen minutes, managing to give me advice in the process. Was he a magician? Or maybe a wizard? He'd look bad with the Dumbledore look for sure. Maybe he was just a ghost…a figment of my imagination. That must be it. Or maybe he was just a prophet.

All I know is that I wanted to talk to Iruka before I made any drastic moves with Sasuke. He lived across the hall from me – he wasn't going anywhere. After twenty minutes of investigating, I finally found out where Iruka lived, and I was at his house. It was really a feat in and of itself.

"Naruto?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," I said sheepishly, "Sasuke sort of interrupted our conversation yesterday, so I came over to finish it."

"This must be important if you came all the way here," he said. He led me into the den where I sat down. He got me a cup of tea, which was really weird. Although Iruka did seem like the mother hen type.

"So we were talking about love, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. We were both silent for a few seconds. "Iruka-sensei, have you ever been in love?" Ha! He blushed. Okay, so that was an obvious yes, but I needed to know more. "You have! With who?"

"It doesn't matter," Iruka said, looking away. "They're dead now."

"Oh," I said. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Iruka said. "I've learned to accept it."

"How do you know when you're in love?" I asked.

Still looking away, out a window, Iruka began a long winded explanation. "You know you're in love when you can't stand to be away from a person. When, even if you're mad at them, you can't imagine your life without them. No matter how forgetful or lazy they are, you accept them.

No matter how late they are, or how many times they use the same excuse, you don't care, because at least you're with them. When, even if they want your first kiss to be with a mask between your mouth, you can only laugh it off because you can't really be mad at them. No matter how many times you tell him to put the porn away –"

"Iruka-sensei!" I yelled, snapping him out of whatever trance he seemed to be in. "Are you in love with Kakashi-sensei?"

He sighed. "Yeah," he admitted. "I am. That's why when we thought you were gay, we were both so eager to accept you."

"But that's it, Iruka," I admitted. "I'm bi."

"Really?" he asked. "I can't say I'm surprised –"

"What!" I yelled.

"– but it doesn't change my opinion of you. And I guarantee you no one who matters will care." I nodded. "Now, since you think you might be in love, can I assume that it has something to do with a certain Uchiha?" I knew my blush gave it away.

"I think I'm going to ask him out," I decided. "I want to see where this is going."

"Good for you," Iruka said. "You could do much worse than him."

OoOoOoOoO

I had gotten back from Iruka's and knocked on Sasuke's door, but either he wasn't answering me, or he was out. I decided to look for him, and I found him pretty easily. He was sitting where his house used to stand before it was burned to the ground.

"What do you want, dobe?" Sasuke asked. I continued to walk towards him and I plopped down next to him.

"I want to talk," I said.

"I don't," he said.

"We need to talk about what happened yesterday," I asserted.

"It was a mistake, okay?" he asked. "Just a simple moment of weakness, is all. It won't happen again."

"And you think I'm the idiot," I scoffed.

"What do you mean, dobe?" he asked suspiciously.

"I mean that…well…fuck this," I said, choosing to abandon words and put my mouth to better use.

I didn't give him a chance to react before his lips were covered by mine. His unique smell immediately permeated my nose and I inhaled his aroma. He tried to push me away, but I asserted myself. After a few seconds, he gave into the kiss.

I licked his bottom lick tentatively to request access to his mouth. He accepted, and before I knew it, I was lying on top of him, kissing him with my whole soul. I noticed that it seemed he had his own unique flavor…a sort of mix of chocolate, cinnamon, apple and mint. It was a great sensation.

My hands instinctively crawled up his abs under his shirt. He definitely had an eight pack…how was he so fit? Part of me wanted to take things further, but I didn't want to freak Sasuke ou– WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!

While I was immersed in my thoughts, Sasuke had taken the opportunity to pull my shirt off and roll over so that he was on top. He bent down and sucked on the nape of my neck. When he finally stopped, he moved to my nipples that were hard as hell. He bit my left one while he played with my right with his finger.

More importantly than that was the hardness I was feeling against my arousal. He was grinding into me! It was as if he needed it. "S-Sasuke," I panted, arching my back when his mouth returned to my neck.

It was too bad. It seemed my outburst snapped him out of the animalistic need he had to find release with me. He had a mixture of mortification, embarrassment and regret plastered all over his face.

"I-I'm sorry," he said, not looking me in the eye. "I shouldn't have –" he was cut off (again) by my lips against his. This kiss was much shorter, however, because I pulled away.

"I'm not sorry," I said. "Will you go out with me tonight?" I asked.

"W-What?" he asked, beginning to regain his composure.

"Will. You. Go. Out. With. Me. Tonight." I said.

"L-like on a date?" he asked.

"Yes, like on a date," I said. "Jeez, are you slow?"

"If this is some kind of joke, then you can just –" he was interrupted a third time. No, don't have another nosebleed you perverts, I shut him up by putting my hand over his mouth.

"I want to go out on a date with you," I said. "You can pick me up tonight at eight. We'll go to Ichiraku, your treat." He made no movements or sounds. "Bring a lot of money." He nodded and I unclamped my hand from his mouth. "See ya later, Sasuke!"

OoOoOoOoO

Normal POV

Sakura was sitting at Ino's grave for a long time already. She didn't know when she got there, but she knew that she had been there for hours, at least. When she first got there, she was really quiet, just sitting next to it. But Sakura needed to talk to a friend…her best friend. Whether or not she could talk back.

"I think I really love Naruto," Sakura told the gravestone. "When we were looking for Sasuke together, it felt so right. I wonder if we'd have stayed together had I gotten my head out of my ass and asked him out sooner.

"I was so caught up in my fantasies about Sasuke that I didn't notice Naruto standing right in front of me. But I think I really lost him now."

She was so caught up in confessing her love for Naruto that she didn't even notice the figure of a certain brunette ninja standing behind her. He had actually been there since before she started talking, but he wasn't going to interrupt her. He was actually almost amused by the fact that she was in love with Naruto, who was going on a date with Sasuke in a few hours.

Almost being the key word.

"I don't think you should keep your hopes up," Shikamaru said, alerting the pink-haired kunoichi to his presence.

"Shikamaru!" Sakura yelled, rising to her feet. "What are you doing here? How much did you hear?"

"I heard it all," he said solemnly. "As for what I'm doing here – I've been coming here every day since Ino died."

"Oh," Sakura said, looking down. "You're welcome to sit with me then. Maybe you can tell me why you told me not to keep my hopes up."

Shikamaru shrugged and sank to the ground beside Ino's grave. Sakura carefully and gracefully sat down beside him. They were quiet for a few seconds before he began to speak.

"Naruto came by my house earlier," he said. "I think he has his eyes set on someone else."

"Who?" she asked.

"You'd have to ask Naruto," he shrugged, not willing to reveal too much. After all, his sexual orientation and relationship with Sasuke was his business, not anyone else's.

"So why do you come here every day?" she asked him. He sighed and looked up at the clouds.

"It's peaceful here," he said. "There are no trees around, so you can see the clouds clearly." He rested his head on the tombstone over Ino's grave.

"So you come here to…look at clouds?" she asked.

"I come here to look at clouds with Ino," he said. "Did she get a chance to talk to you before the mission she went on?"

"You mean the one where she…" Sakura began.

"The last mission she went on," Shikamaru said solemnly.

"I didn't get much of a chance to see how things were going for her," Sakura admitted. "I was so hung up on Naruto, that she didn't get to tell me what she wanted to. She said she had some great news, but I never got to hear it. I'm an awful friend," she added, guiltily.

"I'll tell you what she was going to say," Shikamaru said. Sakura looked up sharply at the brunette through the tears in her eyes. "The night before they left, I told Ino that I loved her, and I asked her out on a date."

Sakura's eyes were wide at Shikamaru's admission. He ignored her expression to continue the story. "She said yes, but that it would have to be after the mission." Sakura could swear she saw a tear fall down Shikamaru's cheek. "But she never made it back."

"Shikamaru," Sakura said. "I –"

"I know how it feels to lose the one you love," Shikamaru said. "But that doesn't mean I've given up on her."

"I'm sorry," Sakura said, standing up. "I didn't mean to upset you. You shouldn't have to deal with my dramas here of all places." She turned to leave, but Shikamaru's voice stopped her.

"Wait!" he commanded. "Sit down. I'd like you to tell me about some stories of you and Ino."

OoOoOoOoO

Naruto POV

"Right on time," I said with a smile after the Uchiha knocked on my door. He was dressed in a black button down shirt with blue accents. He was wearing dark blue jeans, and he had a black belt on, purely for looks. I don't have nice clothes, so I dressed as nice as I could – a pair of jeans with a black t-shirt that had an orange swirl on it. Hey, at least I combed my hair.

"How can I be late? There's no traffic crossing the hall," he said.

"Whatever, teme," I muttered. We walked to Ichiraku, but we didn't hold hands. We just talked. A lot like we used to, before everything got so complicated. Wouldn't you know that time flies, because it seemed like minutes later I was on my fifth bowl.

"Jeez, you're like a bulldozer," Sasuke commented when I ordered my sixth.

"Hey, I told you to bring a lot of money, didn't I?" I asked with a grin.

"Sasuke? Naruto?" a voice asked from behind us. We both turned to see Sakura standing behind us. "What are you guys doing here?"

I knew I was blushing. Hey, my ex-girlfriend finds me on a date with my very male teammate. It's embarrassing.

"Sasuke's just treating me to dinner," I said, not realizing that Sasuke's mood shifted from almost happy to pissed off in an instant.

"Do you guys mind if I joined you?" she asked.

"Not at all!" I said with a fake smile, but I can swear I heard Sasuke mutter 'yes' right next to me.

Sakura must not have heard it because she sat down right next to me.

"Naruto," she said, taking my hand in hers. "I know you broke up with me because you didn't feel anything romantic towards me, but is there any way you can give me another chance? I really do like you. As more than just a friend."

"You know what?" Sasuke asked, standing up. "I think I'll leave you two alone. I don't want to interfere with something so private." He began to walk away, but I grabbed his wrist.

"No," I commanded. "Stay." He turned to face me and glared at me. I turned to the pink haired girl. "Sakura, I think _you_ should go. After all, you're interrupting our date."

"D-date?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "Sasuke and I are out on a date."

"L-like –" she stuttered, her eyes going wide.

"Like I really like him," I said. "And he really likes me, so we're going out…on a date. Do..you…un…der…stand?" I asked, talking to like her like she didn't speak English.

"Is this why you broke up with me? Because you-you're…"

"I'm not gay," I said, "but I _am_ bi, and I broke up with you because I didn't feel any romantic feelings towards you."

"But you feel them…with _Sasuke_?" she asked. I looked at Sasuke's hand in mine and turned back to Sakura.

"Yes, I do," I said. I stood up and faced Sasuke. "Let's go back to your apartment." He nodded and we walked away leaving a stunned Sakura behind.

OoOoOoOoO

Normal POV

Sakura was left stunned at Ichiraku after her love and her former crush went off, hand in hand. She knew Shikamaru must have been right about Naruto moving on. But did Shikamaru know that Naruto was with _Sasuke_?

She didn't have to wait long to get her question answered, as Shikamaru was nearby when he noticed the commotion going on at the tiny ramen shop. Intrigued, he let the scene play out, and after Naruto and Sasuke were safely out of sight, he trudged up to Sakura's side.

"How are you doing?" he asked, patting her back gently.

"Well, I just found out that the love of my life and the guy who I _thought_ was the love of my life are together," she said. "Considering I'm not bawling my eyes out, I'd say I'm doing better than could be expected."

They sat down at the counter of the ramen shop, and Shikamaru ordered a bowl of misu ramen. They were silent while Shikamaru ate. Sakura refused to eat anything, but he was sure she'd be much less depressed later.

Finally, Sakura spoke up. "Did you know?" she asked.

"Yeah," Shikamaru said. "He told me when he came to see me earlier. I told you about it at the gravesite."

She turned to face him. "You left out the part that he was gay and crushing on my old teammate!" she yelled, slapping Shikamaru across the face.

"I don't have to deal with you right now," Shikamaru said, standing up. "You're angry and hurt, but you'll realize that you have no place to expect me to betray my friend like that." He walked away, shoulders slumped and hands in his pockets.

Sakura knew she made a mistake by snapping at Shikamaru. And slapping him was completely over the top. Damn that genius and his ways of explaining the situation! She knew she had to apologize, but she didn't know how. She didn't even know where Shikamaru _lived_.

But she knew one thing: he'd definitely be at Ino's grave tomorrow.

OoOoOoOoO

Naruto POV

Sasuke and I were barely inside his apartment when he pulled me into a fierce, fiery, fucking _fantastic_ kiss.

He closed the door while keeping his lips connected to mine, and pushed me up against it. He bit my lip, causing me to moan into the kiss. The bastard took advantage of my moan and shoved his tongue into my mouth.

Not that I was complaining. In fact, my body responded very positively to his moist tongue invading my mouth. I didn't even bother fighting him for dominance – I didn't mind being submissive. I don't know when I realized it, but letting Sasuke dominate the kiss – heck, actually kissing Sasuke in itself – felt completely _right_.

He ground his hips into mine, and I felt a very hard poking at my crotch. We rubbed our clothed erections together, getting a euphoric high off of our bodies' movements. He detached himself from my mouth, causing me to…please tell me that wasn't a whimper.

It really didn't matter whether it was a whimper, because a very audible moan escaped me when I felt Sasuke's mouth reattach itself to my neck, biting and sucking me with fervor. His hands crept underneath my shirt, feeling me abs, as mine began running through his hair.

"S-Sasuke," I moaned after he detached himself from my neck. There were definitely going to be more than a few hickeys there tomorrow.

"Shut up, dobe," he said, lifting my shirt above my head. I pushed him back towards the couch – I sure as hell wasn't doing anything against a _door_. I'd hope our first time would be a _bit_ more special.

That's when it hit me – I was planning on _having sex_ with Sasuke. And that was a big deal for me. I'd always planned on waiting till marriage to have sex, and I didn't even mind the thought that I'd lose my virginity to my best friend right now on his couch. I was _planning_ on it! I was _counting_ on it!

That's when I knew. I had always felt really strongly about Sasuke, whether it was hate when we first met, friendship when we grew closer, or….love? Did I love Sasuke? It all felt so right with him, like there was nothing more right in the world. I'd given up the girl of my dreams for him, and I didn't have a regret in the world.

Because…

"I-I love you," I panted as he continued to suck on one nipple, playing with the other with his hand. But as soon as the words escaped his mouth, his ministrations stopped. He removed himself from on top of me, and he got up.

He walked towards his kitchen, leaving me alone on the sofa, very confused. What. The. Hell. I just said that I loved him. I _knew_ he loved me. Why was he so…distant.

"Don't you dare," he said, facing away from me. "Don't you dare say that unless you truly mean it."

"I do mean it, Sasuke," I said. "I love you."

"You mean that if I kicked you out and didn't have sex with me, you'd still love me?"

"I'd be heartbroken," I admitted. "To think that you didn't want to be with me. But I'd still love you."

"Prove it," Sasuke said.

"Fine," I said, leaving his apartment with him still standing there alone. As the door closed behind me, I realized something – I didn't want to go home without him.

OoOoOoOoO

Normal POV

Sakura went to Ino's grave, thinking that Shikamaru might have gone there after their little fight. And who knew the genius of the Leaf Village was so predictable, because he was sitting right there in front of Ino's grave when she got there.

He was still as a statue, and as quiet as one, too. It seemed to Sakura it was as if he was waiting for her to find him there.

"I'm sorry," she said to him, abruptly ending the silence that haunted the graveyard.

"I know," Shikamaru said. "You didn't know how to react, so you just acted out. It's perfectly understandable."

"That doesn't excuse what I did," she said, sitting down next to him. "I should have been more understanding. I would have done the same thing as you in the situation."

"You know, you're so lucky," Shikamaru said. "If you love Naruto like you say you do, then you should be happy that he's happy. I'd give anything if I could bring Ino back, even if it meant she'd run off with Choji."

"I know," Sakura said. "I wish she was alive too. I could really use my best friend right now."

"Ino'd kill me if she thought I let you be without a friend right now," Shikamaru said. "So I guess I'll be your temporary best friend right now."

Sakura laid her head on Shikamaru's shoulder. "I know I should be happy for Naruto and Sasuke, but I can't," she admitted. "I love Naruto, and I can't stand to see him with anyone other than me."

"'If you love them, let them go,'" Shikamaru recited. "If you really did love Naruto, then you'd be able to be happy for him."

"Then I guess I don't love him," Sakura said. "But it still hurts. A lot."

"I know," Shikamaru said. "The two most prominent guys in your life suddenly leave you high and dry. It makes sense. They're the two people who you were closest with. And after Kakashi and Ino died, they were your only really close friends."

"I can't stay friends with either of them," Sakura said. "My feelings for Naruto are too strong to just watch him with Sasuke, and after asking him for another chance, I doubt I'm high up on Sasuke's list."

"Maybe you just need new friend," Shikamaru said.

"I just need one," she said. "And I think you're doing a pretty good job at it. Ino would be proud." Shikamaru looked away, and the two sat in silence until they fell asleep, her head on his shoulder, and his head resting on top of hers.

OoOoOoOoO

Sasuke POV

I really didn't expect the 'I love you', and I _really_ didn't expect him to actually leave. Leave it to me to turn an 'I love you' into being left all alone. I sighed and got ready to take a cold shower. A _really_ cold shower. I needed it.

So when I finally got out of my shower in my towel and saw Naruto lying in my bed, you could say I was pretty surprised. So surprised I almost dropped my towel. _Almost_.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm proving to you that I really love you," Naruto said plainly. "I don't need sex, I just need you, and I'm going to sleep over here every day until you finally believe me."

"So you're in _my_ bed, in _my_ apartment, and you expect me to believe you don't want to have sex with me?" I asked.

He threw off the blanket to reveal himself in atrociously orange pajamas and a black night shirt. "I'm not going to have sex with you, I just want to sleep with you." At my eyeroll, he snapped at me. "Not like that! Get your head out of your pants, you pervert!"

"Fine," I sighed. I took some sweat pants out of my drawer and changed into it. I dried my hair and upped body before crawling into bed beside the blond.

And even though I was supposed to be mad, I pulled him into me so that we were spooning. Hey, it's not like he wasn't going to take advantage of the situation.

**Author's Note: Sorry I'm switching point of view so much in this, but I felt like it was necessary. For those of you who are wondering, yes I'm doing a separate storyline for Sakura and Shikamaru because I like them and don't want them to be lonely. So there will be a little bit of ShikaSaku, but nothing graphic. Thanks for reading, and please review :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Alright people, if I owned Naruto, then would Sasuke and Naruto really be on opposite sides of the shinobi world? Yeah…didn't think so.**

**Author's Note: Okay, people, there are very few chapters left to this. Chapter 20 will be it for this story. I'd like to take a second to plug my stories **Life Moves On** and **Not Just Another Fake Boyfriend Story**, as well as my one shots, **Playing House** and **Naked Wrestling**. I'd also like to thank my reviewers for this story so far:** MusicalGirl1796, BadButt94, Eztli, .W, LoveUntilWeBleed, .milsom, Gaara's Twin, SasukeUzumaki9999, aikoi, razor 0603, Kairoku, r3d drag0n, MidnightRoseIstheMadDetective, mike, animerockchic, Mizuki Hikari, KateMsd,** and any other anonymous reviewers who didn't leave a name. I like it when people review, and I've meant to thank everyone, but I never got around to it. Anyway, here's the chapter.**

**Before you ask, yes, this has turned into a sort of split story between Sasuke/Naruto and Shikamaru/Sakura. And yes, the scene you've all been waiting for is here, so SasuNaru fans – rejoice!**

Chapter Fifteen: Untitled

It was the first night I'd had a good night's sleep since Kakashi died, and the feeling of waking up snuggled into a warm body didn't hurt.

If someone told me a few months ago that I'd be lying in Sasuke Uchiha's bed, in his arms, nestled against him, I would have called them crazy. I'd probably beat them up, too, but that's beside the point.

I looked up and saw him sleeping peacefully. It was actually the first time that I'd seen him so relaxed. He really looked beautiful when he slept. His hair was messy, and his bangs hung over his face, but he looked almost angelic. The black hair lay on top of his pale skin so wonderfully, I couldn't help myself.

I slowly inched my head up, kissing his sleeping lips. It wasn't anything intrusive – just a peck on the lips. I didn't want to wake him. I realized how awkward it would be if he woke up to see me staring at him in his arms, and I momentarily thought of getting out of the bed.

But the thought of leaving my peaceful raven made me stay. Screw him; I can just pretend I'm asleep. Closing my eyes, I snuggled into him more, and waited for him to wake up.

After a few seconds, my eyes went wide with shock. Sasuke must be having a very good dream because I felt a poke towards my ass. Thank god we were both clothed! Now I was stuck sleeping in the arms of a very asleep teme with a very _obvious_ case of morning wood.

Just feakin' great!

"Naruto," I heard him moan. I felt tingling in my cheeks and knew I was blushing. Thank god there was no one here to hear Sasuke moaning my name in his sleep. While he had an erection. And was holding me close.

I was still careful not to wake him. That would be mean, and that would result in a very pissed off Sasuke, who I can't imagine is a morning person. It was when he started to grind against me that I decided enough was enough.

I tried to pull away, but he pulled me closer, and his breath began to hit my ear, sending shivers up my spine. Shit. Now Sasuke wasn't the only one with a….problem.

His breath ghosted against my ear again and I shivered as a chill went up my spine. "S-Sasuke," I whimpered.

This morning was definitely not how I expected it to go.

I heard a soft moan come from Sasuke and I realized he was waking up. I decided to go with my plan to be asleep and see what he did.

It took him a second to realize what happened, but he eventually got the picture and he scoffed. "Hn, what a dobe," he said. I was just about ready to get up and yell at him.

"_You start grinding against me in your sleep with a _boner_, and then you wake up to call me a dobe!"_ I yelled.

Actually, I didn't. Here's what really happened.

I was _going_ to say that, but a pair of soft lips against my temple stopped me. I expected him to let go of me sometime soon, but he didn't. After his lips left my forehead, he just pulled me closer into him, and sighed.

"Sasuke?" I asked. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Were you awake the whole time?" he asked me. I got a huge goofy grin.

"I've been awake since you got a boner and moaned my name in your sleep."

Even I couldn't argue that I deserved the punch he sent me.

After I was done complaining about how much that hurt (and believe me – it fucking _hurt_), we got up and got dressed, which meant I had to go back to my apartment for a few minutes. But I got back, and smiled at him.

"So what are we going to do today?" I asked.

"_We_?"

"Yeah," I said. "I told you I was going to prove that I love you and I didn't just say it in the heat of the moment, so we're going to spend all day together, whether you like it or not." He didn't respond, he just 'hned' and continued to make himself breakfast. Sure, I had to pour my own cereal (heavens forbid the teme do something nice for me), but the morning was spent in a peaceful silence.

"I'm sorry for telling Sakura about us," I said to him. He looked up at me and sighed.

"I'm not mad about it, dobe," he said. "I'm actually…kind of…" he trailed off. "Never mind, it's not important."

Like hell it wasn't. I knew what he was going to say. _He actually…kind of…appreciated it._ He was glad that he knew he wouldn't be my dirty little secret.

Of course, he'd never actually tell me that. But that's okay. He might be a distant, icy, cold, bastard, but he was _my_ distant, icy, cold bastard.

"I want to take you somewhere," I said, taking him by the arm and pulling him from the table.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're going to see my father."

Sasuke was visibly stunned by my idea, and I couldn't blame him. I had only done this twice since I found out that the Fourth Hokage was my father.

I led him through the streets of the Leaf Village, and eventually, he started to walk next to me instead of being dragged. He was silent, probably presuming that I would be sad because of the mention of my father.

Eventually, we reached the outer area of the village. That was when Sasuke had enough of following me blindly.

"Dobe," he whispered, "we passed the cemetery already. Where are we really going?"

"Like I said, to see my father," I said. We were now standing under the mountain with the faces of the Hokage etched in them. I turned back to Sasuke. "Last one up there's a rotten egg!"

Of course, the minute I said that, he was off like a rocket, and we were racing up there neck and neck. I think he took pity on me because at the last second, he slowed down and I got there first. Stupid teme…trying to purposely lose to me. I crossed my arms and glared at him, but then I remembered just where I was.

Standing on top of my father's head.

I'm sure Sasuke noticed my mood change as I sat down on my father's head. He also seemed more quiet and reserved since we got here.

The first time I was here, it was right after Sasuke, Sakura and I came back from fighting Kabuto, Orochimaru and Itachi. Sakura was with her family and Sasuke wanted to be alone for a bit, and I remembered what happened in the battle.

_Four boxes rose out of the ground in front of Orochimaru - two on his left, and two on his right. I could distinctly hear Kabuto chuckling. The boxes - which I now realized were coffins - opened up, revealing four men._

_"First Lord Hokage," Orochimaru said, as the man in the coffin on the far left stepped forward. "Second Lord Hokage," he continued, as the second Hokage began to stepp out of his coffin. "Third Lord Hokage," he said. It was the only Hokage I knew in person, and he stepped out. "Fourth Lord Hokage," he said with a mischievous smile. The fourth Hokage stepped out of the coffin and looked at me. The four looked around._

_"Sarutobi," the First Hokage said. "It's been a long time."_

_"Orochimaru!" The Third Hokage said in a calm rage, "how dare you use this jutsu again to force us to fight." He looked at who he was to be facing. "And against Naruto Uzumaki, no less."_

_The Fourth Hokage looked up sharply. "Naruto," he began._

_"And using the Fourth to fight his own son," The Third Hokage continued. "You're a monster."_

I remembered that I finally found out who my father was, so I decided to visit him. The view from on top of the head was spectacular. It actually helped calm my nerves.

The second time I came here was before I asked Sasuke out on our date. I wanted to talk to my father about the feelings I was having and what it meant. It was actually talking to him that pushed me to ask Sasuke out.

"Hey, Dad," I said, "it's me again. I…um….I wanted to introduce you to Sasuke. He's that boy I was telling you about." I saw Sasuke's eyebrows shoot up from the corner of my eye. I grabbed his hand and I held it in my own.

"I'm in love with him." Sasuke gasped and I knew what had surprised him. He knew that finding out who my father was was a big deal to me, and for me to tell him this, he knew I wasn't lying about my feelings.

"I want you to meet him," I said. "I know if you were here today, you'd like him. He has that certain something about him once he stops acting like an ashhole."

I was going to continue, but Sasuke spoke up first. "Yondaime Hokage," Sasuke said, "I am honored to be a part of your family through Naruto. I promise to take care of him."

We sat in silence for a few seconds before someone broke the silence for us.

"He'd be proud, you know," a female voice said from behind us. Sasuke and I jumped up and turned to her.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"How do you know Minato Namikaze?" Sasuke asked.

"My name is Azera Aburame," she said. I had a distinct feeling that I recognized the name.

"Aburame?" Sasuke asked. He must have realized it too. "You must be related to Shino." Ah, now I remembered!

"That's correct," she said. "As for how I know Minato, my genin squad was Team Jiraya."

"That means –" I began.

"Yes," she said, nodding, "I was on your father's genin squad."

"What did you mean when you said he'd be proud?" I asked.

"Minato and I were friends until his death," she said. "I was one of the first people to find out that your mother was pregnant."

"Y-You knew….my father," I said.

"Yes," she repeated. "He repeatedly said how much he loved you, before you were even born. He wanted to be there when you eventually got married." I felt a tear slip down my face and then I felt Sasuke squeeze me hand. "All he wanted for you was to be happy and to find love. He said he wouldn't care if you were an awful shinobi, as long as you were happy."

I couldn't even hold it in anymore. Here was this woman who I'd never even heard of, telling me that my father…that he'd be proud?

I never actually said it to anyone, but I had been scared since realizing I was bi that my father wouldn't approve of me. Everyone made him seem like he was perfect, and from what I heard, he didn't seem like someone who would care about homosexuality, but I never really knew for sure.

Knowing that my father wouldn't mind whether I was in love with a guy or a girl lifted a giant weight off my shoulder. I don't remember her leaving Sasuke and I, but by the time I was done crying, I realized Sasuke and I were standing, looking down at the village. When I was finally done crying, we sat back down, looking at the village.

We were silent for a while – until sunset to be exact. But as we watched the sun set over the horizon made by the walls surrounding the village, Sasuke let one sentence escape.

"It's beautiful," he said. I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Just like you," I told him. He sat up straighter and I pulled my head from his shoulder. I looked into his dark, onyx eyes and saw emotion that I knew no one could ever see. It was like Sasuke gave me the key to his heart just by looking in my eyes. I saw straight through his usually stoic expression, and I knew in that instant that he was the one. Not only did I love him, but I belonged to him, mind, body and soul. That was what he was – my soulmate.

"I love you," I said, my breath ghosting on his lips as I moved our faces closer together.

"I know," he said, capturing my lips with his own. It was unlike any other kiss we experienced. This time, I knew going into it what Sasuke was to me, and I knew what I was to him. There was no fight for dominance and no exploration necessary. After all, we weren't new to kissing.

Instead, when we allowed each other's tongues entrance into our mouths, we were _memorizing_ each other, as if we could never be together again. I pushed him so that he was lying with his back flat against the hard rock.

He moaned into the kiss, and I felt his arousal pressing up against my own. Our need for release took over, and I bit his neck, causing another moan from the raven as he bucked up.

"N-Naruto," he moaned, "S-oh god-stop it." I pulled away, confused and a little hurt.

"What? You don't want me?" I asked.

"It's not that," he said, panting. "I just wouldn't feel comfortable doing any of this on your father's head," he drawled. My eyes shot wide when I realized what was happening. I picked Sasuke up, bridal style. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked. To answer him, I jumped over on top of the Fifth Hokage – Jiraya's – head.

"This better?" I asked with a sly grin.

"You really want to did this on Jiraya's head?" he asked.

"C'mon," I said, biting his neck. In between bites, I continued my thought. "He's a pervert…he wouldn't mind…in fact…I think he'd…call it…kinky."

"Oh, god," he said as I nipped and sucked at his neck. "If you put it like that," he said, pushing me to the ground. He got on top of me and kissed me, completely dominating me. He ripped off my shirt, exposing my chest.

"Sasuke!" I yelled.

"C'mon," he said, "no one's going to see."

"Fine," I said, unbuttoning his pants. In his moment off need, he pulled his shirt over his head as I pulled his pants down to his ankles, leaving him clad in only his briefs, which showed a very promising bulge. I squeezed him through his underwear, causing him to throw his head back in pleasure. I slowly pulled them down, and I begun to tease his cock.

I trailed my fingers up his shaft, eliciting a moan from him. I then gripped his throbbing manhood with my hands while I kissed him passionately. I licked a trail down to his chest as my hand continued to tease his member. I sucked a pert nipple into my mouth and sucked on it, causing him to moan and buck into my hands.

After leaving the nipple with a bite, I continued to lick a trail down to his member and up his shaft. When I reached the head, I lapped up the precum that was leaking before sucking his head into my mouth. I kept suckling at his head, causing such amazing sounds to escape his mouth.

Eventually, I decided to stop teasing him and I started to bob down on his length, taking as much of it as I could without gagging. I let my tongue caress the underside of his cock as I bobbed up and down on his cock. I was on a high and I wasn't even the one being blown!

I pulled off his cock and swirled at the head, teasing him again. He was panting, and I knew he was close. I stuck my fingers in Sasuke's mouth and he began to suck on them. After a few seconds of his sucking, I pulled the digits out of his mouth and I touched them to his opening.

"Whoa!" he yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Trust me," I said. "I read in a magazine that this feels good."

"What magazine were you reading?" he asked. I blushed, recalling the magazine that I had originally bought to "test my sexuality".

"Shut up," I said, returning to his throbbing member. I pushed my lubricated fingers into his tight hold one at a time, making sure to let him adjust to each one. After a few seconds, I began thrusting them in and out looking for _that_ spot that the magazines described.

The second I hit it, I knew because he cried out my name. After hitting it twice more, I retreated off his shaft. I hit his prostate once more at the exact same moment I sucked on his head and he instantly came in my mouth. It was a struggle, but I managed to swallow every drop, before pulling myself up to join the resting Uchiha.

He held me in his arms while he panted after his release, not even realizing how much I needed release. But I decided to keep that fact to myself, because just watching the glowing Uchiha was better than any release I could imagine.

"I love you," he said.

"I know."

OoOoOoOoO

Earlier that day – that morning to be exact – Shikamaru woke up to a pink haired kunoichi leaning her head on his shoulder as she slept. Not just that, but they were sitting with their backs on Inoi's tombstone. He couldn't help but feel like this was totally betraying his feelings for Ino, but at the same time, he knew she'd haunt him for eternity if he didn't take care of her best friend.

"Troublesome," he whispered before readjusting himself so he was in a more comfortable position. His back would _not_ thank him later for sleeping against the hard rock.

There was a cool breeze that passed, causing Sakura to shiver. Shikamaru sighed before pulling her into him to share his heat with her. She was really cold. He sighed again and then stood up. He lifted her so that she could sleep in his arms and he began to walk her back towards her house.

The sun had just begun to rise, and few people were in the street of the Leaf Village at this time of the morning. The few people who were there just didn't notice or didn't care about Shikamaru carrying the sleeping girl.

He eventually made it back to his house, where he knew his parents would still be asleep. It didn't take much effort to sneak in, because his parents were deep sleepers. He made his way into his room and lay Sakura on it. He pulled the covers up, before walking over to a chair that sat in his room.

With a sigh, he leaned his head back and fell back asleep.

About an hour and a half later, Sakura woke up after a beam of light hit her eyes. She moaned and rolled over, trying to block out the sun by putting her pillow over her head.

But wait…that wasn't her pillow.

Her eyes shot open and she looked around the room. This was _definitely_ not her room. Her eyes then came to rest on the body of a waking boy in a chair across the room.

"Shikamaru?" she asked. "Where are we?"

"We're in my room," he said, yawning. He ignored her slight blush and explained. "We fell asleep in the cemetery, and I brought you back here at about 5:00 because you were cold."

"I'm sorry," she said. "That was probably such a…"

"Drag?" he supplied. She nodded at him and he sighed. "It was, but I wasn't going to let you stay there and catch a cold."

"How chivalrous of you," she said giggling. She threw the sheets off of herself and got out of the bed, brushing her clothes off from the dirt that was still there from the cemetery. "I'll just be getting out of here." She made her way to the door, but Shikamaru stopped her.

"My parents are out there," Shikamaru said. "I don't feel like explaining why a girl was sleeping in my room."

"Then what –?" she began to ask.

"Here," he said, opening the window up. They were on the first floor, so it didn't matter.

"Okay," she said, walking over to the window. "And Shikamaru?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," she said. "I can't imagine anyone else taking me back to their place and letting me sleep there. At least, not without thinking of ways I could repay them."

"You're Ino's friend," he explained. "She'd have my head if she thought I wasn't looking out for you. But don't make it a habit to fall asleep outside."

She chuckled. "I won't."

As Sakura left the Nara residence through the window, Shikamaru sighed and decided to out to see Choji. He knew the boy would probably be at the barbeque pork place at this time of day (it was about noon) and so he headed towards the center of the village.

Meanwhile, Sakura was walking through the streets of the Leaf Village to get to her home. She knew her parents would freak out when they saw her coming in the house so late in the morning – almost afternoon, actually – and so she was racing. She knew she had to get there soon, so she decided to take some shortcuts through alleys.

Finally, she reached an alley near her house in the center of town, where she paused to catch her breath.

"Hey, girl," a voice said from behind her. "How's it going?"

Sakura turned around to see three guys who looked about 17 standing around her. The guy who spoke was the one in the middle, and the other boys laughed at Sakura's confusion.

Sakura turned around to leave, but she felt a hand grab her wrist and turn her around. The guy who spoke pinned her against the wall and ripped her shirt. His friends pinned Sakura's wrists to the brick wall.

"Stop it!" Sakura yelled as the boy started to grind into her. She tried to free herself from their grip, but she couldn't. And with her hands pinned, she couldn't use any jutsu, either. In other words, she was trapped.

"It's okay, sugar," the guy said, "It'll only hurt a bit." He unzipped his pants and freed his cock, while he pulled down Sakura's shorts while the kunoichi struggled.

"Stop!" she yelled. "Someone, help me!" She would have continued to scream, but one of the boys covered her mouth. She knew she had to do something herself, and she had to do it fast.

Finally, she settled on kicking the man who was attacking her right in his crotch, causing him to recoil back in pain.

"You bitch!" he yelled. Sakura took the opportunity to throw the other two guys off of her before doing a hand sign.

"Ninja Art: Earth Manipulation Jutsu!" she yelled, putting her hands in the ground.

"Shit, she's a ninja!" one of the boys yelled as Sakura's attack hit them. A fist made of rock grabbed them and threw them against a wall. They got up and scrambled away, leaving an exhausted Sakura behind.

She slid down against a wall so that her knees were at her chest and her head was back against the wall she was almost…she couldn't even think about it. It was a few minutes before she heard a familiar voice.

"Sakura?" She looked up to see Shikamaru standing over her. She got up and clung to the boy, who put a comforting hand to her back. "Shh, it'll be okay."

He noticed the ripped clothes and he decided to take her to the hospital. When he got there, the doctors called her parents and they arrived. Eventually, Sakura finally spoke up to tell them that she _wasn't_ raped, but they still fawned all over her.

Shikamaru stayed with her the whole time.

OoOoOoOoO

Sasuke and I decided not to tempt fate and to get dressed and go back to hiss apartment, where we had dinner. It dawned on me that we totally skipped lunch that day, but I didn't care – Sasuke and I were finally in a good place.

"Hey, Sasuke?" I asked while we were eating ramen. Yes, I convinced the teme to eat ramen. It was the food of the gods. When he looked up, I decided to continue. "When did you realize that I had told the truth and that I knew I loved you?"

"I knew it all along," Sasuke said, slurping a noodle. "I just wanted to see if you would try to prove it." I dropped my fork in shock.

"You teme!" I yelled. "Making me go through that was cruel!"

"I didn't see you complaining," he said.

"How did you know, anyway?" I asked.

"Don't you remember?" he asked. "You said it in your sleep while you were trying to look for me."

"What?" I asked, before remembering.

_"I love you, too, Sasuke," I whispered in my sleep. I felt a brush against my lips and woke up, seeing Sasuke above me, kissing me. My eyes widened in shock. Was I awake, or was this part of the dream? Either way, I wasn't ready to let it go. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I kissed him back._

_I felt his tongue brush my lower lip, requesting access to my mouth. I opened my mouth and felt his tongue invade. I explored his mouth, savoring his taste for a short while, until he pulled away. He made a hand sign that I didn't recognize and he touched my heart. My eyelids started to droop, and he whispered "I love you," to me._

"Wait a second," I said. "That was real? I thought it was a dream!"

"Of course it was real, dobe," Sasuke said, finishing his ramen with one last slurp. "Remember – I was following you guys so that you would lead me to Itachi. I heard you moaning my name in your sleep, so I decided to see what was happening. When I got there, you said, "I love you, too, Sasuke," and I kissed you."

"And you didn't tell me!" I asked.

"I needed you to figure out what you felt for me on your own," he said. "I didn't want the kiss that you thought was a dream interfering with your decision."

"So you were testing me!" I asked incredulously. Yes, I know a word with five syllables! I can be smart too!

"Yes," he said, getting up from the table. He walked over to me and leaned down. "You pass," he whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. I turned to face him and I went in to kiss him.

Eventually, we made it to his bed with no clothes on. How that happened was kind of a blur, but I remember what happened after that very vividly, because it started with Sasuke pumping my shaft.

"I figure I owe you from earlier," he whispered coyly in my ear as he continued to play with my throbbing member. I moaned out his name when he swiped his thumb over my slit, but I didn't care – he was causing me too much pleasure.

I was on the edge about to cum when he stopped his ministrations. He opened his dresser drawer and pulled out a bottle of lube and squirted it on his fingers, before putting one into my asshole.

I felt a lot of pain as the finger invaded me, but it slowly went away, just in time for him to insert his second finger. As soon as I adjusted to that, he started to scissor his fingers, causing more pain then pleasure. Finally, he added a third finger in and started to pump them in and out.

He was searching for something, and I knew just what it was – he was looking for my prostate. And from the immense wave of pleasure I felt after one of his thrusts, it would be safe to be that he found it.

I knew I was moaning and shouting things, but I couldn't tell you what they were. All I was focused on was the euphoria that I felt with Sasuke. Finally, he pulled his fingers out and lined up his cock with my hole.

"Are you sure you want this?" he asked. I responded by pushing myself onto his meat. He gasped as my asshole swallowed his cock, but after taking the head, I had to stop from the pain.

I was extremely grateful to Sasuke for letting me adjust, as I took a few minutes. If it was me, I'm sure I'd let my need take over and just shove right into him. Finally, I decided I was good and I begun to push myself back on his cock. He pushed the rest of the way into me, causing me to yell out.

He kissed my neck to get me to relax, and it worked. I pushed back against him to show that I was ready and he began to thrust in and out of me. He reached around and started to stroke my cock in time with his thrusts. The only sound in the entire apartment was the sound of flesh against flesh and the moaning.

I don't know how long it was, but it was such a wonderful feeling while he thrust in and out of me. Finally, he hit the spot again, and I moaned his name. He bit my shoulder as he hit it repeatedly. Finally, he cried out my name as I felt his cock expand and his cum splashed through me. The sound of him moaning my name was what pushed me over the edge as I came all over our chests.

After our orgasms, he pulled my sticky chest into his, and he wrapped his arms around me. We fell asleep that way, and the only thing important in that moment, was my love for him, and his love for me.

**Author's Note: I hope you liked it. This was the most sex I've ever had in a story, so please tell me if it was good. I expect another five chapters, but I might do less depending on the need for it. I didn't name this chapter because I couldn't think of anything to name it.**

**I posted on my bio my schedule for updating, and there will be a lot more updates this month. I plan on finishing it this month, but here are the dates: tomorrow, 11/14, next Saturday, 11/20, 11/24, 11/25, and 11/26. Yes, that's three days in a row on Thanksgiving week, so consider it my present. It'll be hard, but I'll try to get it done.**

**I posted a new story called "Not Just Another Fake Boyfriend Story", but it's a high school AU, so if you don't like, don't read. I'm not going to be updating it as fast as I usually do because I'm going to focus on finishing this and finishing my other story, "Life Moves On". I'd like you to check them out, though, if you want to read another SasuNaru fan fic.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please review (I'm posting again tomorrow, but I hope I'll get at least five reviews before I post).**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Yes, I own Naruto. That's why I'm wasting my time posting fan fiction instead of putting it on TV for all of you to see. Jeez, people, use your brains!**

**Author's Note: I got mostly positive review from my last chapter. I'd like to thank **LoveUntilWeBleed**, **BadButt94, **and** josseline9090 **for reviewing the last chapter. I'm glad everyone enjoyed my lemons and limes last chapter.**

**There are still a few loose ends that need to be tied up soon, and it'll start with this chapter.**

Chapter Sixteen

I woke up and the first thing I realized was that I was very, incredibly sticky. The second thing I realized was that I was very, incredibly naked in bed with a very, incredibly naked Uchiha. The third thing I realized was that my ass _hurt_.

I was torn between staying with my warm Uchiha or to take a shower. I chose the latter. I was extremely careful to not wake him up while I showered, and I even went across the hall to my apartment to get dressed before returning.

I didn't know how Sasuke could sleep for so long, but I didn't care. I sat down on the side of the bed and just watched is chest rise and fall as he slept peacefully. It felt like I was in a trance, looking at him, but I didn't really care.

All of a sudden, I heard knocking on the door. I decided to get it and let Sasuke continue to sleep.

"Sasuke, it's Shikamaru!" he yelled through the door. "I need to speak to you!" I opened the door to see Shikamaru, and for the first time, I seemed to surprise him. "Naruto? What are you doing…oh, I get it. I guess this would explain why you weren't in your apartment."

I tried to stop the blush that began to form on my cheek, but I couldn't. "What do you need to speak to me and Sasuke for, anyway?" I asked.

"It's about Sakura," he said, inviting himself into Sasuke's apartment. He sat down in the living room on the sofa, and I sat next to him. "She was almost raped last night."

"What?" I yelled. "Sakura was…almost…raped?" He nodded.

"She was able to fight them off, but she was kept overnight in the hospital. I just wanted to let you guys know, because you're her friends."

"How did you find out?" I asked.

"I was there right after it happened," he said. "She was curled in a ball against a wall in an alley, and her clothes were all dirty and torn."

"That's awful," I said, standing up. "I have to see her!"

"Dobe?" a sleeping voice asked from behind me. I turned around to see a very tired, very _naked_ Sasuke there.

"Sasuke!" I yelled. "Go back to the bedroom _now!_"

"You want to go again?" he asked suggestively, not even noticing Shikamaru right next to me.

"Sasuke!" I yelled again. "We have company!"

"Huh?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, he was staring at Shikamaru, who was returning the gaze.

"Morning, sunshine," Shikamaru said sarcastically. A pink tint immediately spread on Sasuke's cheeks – the ones on his face – and he ran back in the bedroom.

"Naruto!" he yelled at me from the other room.

"I guess I was more spot on when I said good morning before, wasn't I?" Shikamaru asked with a smirk.

"You're loving this, aren't you?" I asked.

"Of course," he said. "Not only was I right all along about your feelings, but so were Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei. You really were the only person who didn't see what you felt."

"Oh, shut up," I said, pretty sure I was blushing.

"I think it's cute," Shikamaru said, "finding you two at his apartment…he was _naked_."

"Shouldn't you be complaining how troublesome this is, or something?" I asked.

"Oh, but this isn't troublesome, it's downright hilarious," Shikamaru said. "I'm sure Sakura would have fainted if she was here."

"I'd have thought someone as lazy as you wouldn't be so entertained by this," I muttered.

"Well, I need to have fun every once in a while, right? I can't imagine anything more fun than this."

Sasuke stepped out of his bedroom with all his clothes on, and ignored us while he poured himself some coffee. When he finally had the steaming cup in his hand and he returned to the living room with the slight blush still painted on his cheeks, Shikamaru and I had already stopped talking about the incident.

"So why are you here?" he asked.

"It's about Sakura," Shikamaru and I said in sync. We looked at each other, and I decided to let Shikamaru tell Sasuke about her.

"She was…she was almost raped last night," Shikamaru said.

"Is she okay?" Sasuke asked.

"She's as okay as she can be," Shikamaru said with a shrug. "She's back home now, and there was no permanent damage."

"Tell her that Naruto and I are thinking about her," Sasuke said, to which Shikamaru nodded.

"I will," he said, standing up. "First Kakashi, then Ino, and now this."

He left the apartment, and the romantic mood that was set last night was officially gone. I looked at Sasuke wishing I could do anything to bring back the happiness from last night, but there was no way to ignore what Shikamaru told us.

"We're not in the clear, yet," Sasuke said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We managed to defeat Itachi and Orochimaru," he said, "but remember – Ishichi is still after us. He wants revenge for Kisame's death."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I said. "Remember, we're no pushovers. But right now, I just want to let things be. My life is finally perfect. Even what happened to Sakura could have been a lot worse – at least she _wasn't_ raped."

"I guess," Sasuke said, pulling me into his chest. "And you're right – I like this."

I snuggled closer to his chest and we stayed like that for a few minutes before I looked up and saw him staring at me. I saw the look of utter contentment in his onyx orbs and before I knew it, I was leaning in to give him a kiss.

It was such a new feeling to be able to kiss someone and have the world melt away. Right now, Ishichi could burst into the room with a kunai in his hand and I wouldn't care – I have Sasuke.

I have him, and he isn't going anywhere.

That was all I could think about. With Sasuke, it was like every kiss we shared was an out of body experience.

This was the first time we just….kissed. There was no promise or expectation of anything else, it was just a way to show each other how we felt. We didn't need to jack each other off or blow somebody. We already made the ultimate commitment last night, and there was no going back.

Not that I wanted to. I was finally happy.

OoOoOoOoO

Sakura stood at the entrance of the cemetery and watched the only figure as it kneeled. She knew that Tsunade told her to rest, but she had something to do before she could put her mind at ease.

She walked over to the kneeling figure, who acknowledged her presence, but made no attempt to move.

"You shouldn't do this," she said, sitting down. "Kakashi-sensei always went to his best friend's grave, and he was giving up his life. He never moved on."

"Maybe I shouldn't move on," Shikamaru said. "Maybe that's for the best."

"If Ino was here today, what do you think she'd think of you wasting your life away here?"

"If Ino was here today, I wouldn't _need _to waste my life away here," he said grimly. "I never felt this way about someone."

"That doesn't mean you never will," Sakura said. "It's been about three months since she died. I think she'd want you to move on."

"I don't know how," Shikamaru admitted.

"Let me help you," Sakura whispered, closing the gaps between their mouths. Shikamaru immediately pushed her away.

"What the hell was that?" he screamed, standing up.

"That was my way of trying to show you that you're still alive!" Sakura yelled. "You don't have to give up your life just because Ino lost hers."

"That doesn't give you the right to…to kiss me! Here of all places," he said. "This is so troublesome."

"You have no right to feel like your life sucks!" she yelled. "In the last few months, I've fallen in love just to have it taken away from me, my teacher _and_ my best friend have both died, and then, I was almost raped! You have no right to complain about how 'troublesome' your life is right now, because my life is five times worse, and I'm not complaining.

"I'm not saying you should forget about Ino, or even stop visiting her grave. I'm telling you that if you decide to live your life here, then you really don't have a life. And that is a piss poor way to honor Ino's sacrifice. She died in the line of duty so that everyone in the Leaf Village could live safely. And now you're here throwing your life away. Why don't you just spit on her grave!"

"Go away!" Shikamaru yelled. "It's none of your business what I do with my life."

"You're right," Sakura said. "If you want to ruin Ino's memory by giving up your life, it's your choice." She stood up and left him at the grave alone.

He sat back down, his back against the tombstone like it was the night he and Sakura fell asleep. After a sigh, he sat there in silence as the sun slowly rose and began to fall.

"She's right," he finally said. "I can't let myself do this." He stood up and began to walk away from the grave, pausing about ten meters away. He looked over his shoulders and whispered, "I love you," before walking out of the cemetery.

OoOoOoOoO

"So what do you want to do tonight?" I asked Sasuke. We had finally finished our extremely long make out session just in time for lunch. After a small food fight, and a shower, and…um…shower activities, we finally sat down and realized it was almost 2:00 already!

"I think I'll start moving," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"What!" I yelled. "Where do you plan on going?"

"Your place, of course," he said as if my question was ridiculous. "Where else?"

"Shouldn't I technically give you permission before you decide to move into my house?" I asked. He raised his eyebrow and I rolled my eyes. "Fine, will you move in with me?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he said, plainly. "But we'll have to discuss the color of the walls. I am not a fan of orange and yellow."

"First you invite yourself to move into my apartment, and now you want to redecorate!" I asked incredulously.

"If you recall, _you_ just asked _me_ to move in with you five seconds ago," he said.

"Whatever," I muttered. "What a bastard," I said, mostly to myself." He threw a pillow at me and I laughed. "We've already had a food fight today, and now you want to start a pillow fight?"

"Well, it's kind of like we're going to have a permanent slumber party, so why not?" he asked before throwing another pillow at me.

"Oh, it's on!" I said, picking up the pillows and throwing them at him. He ducked, naturally, and soon, I was pinned to the ground with a pillow being repeatedly hit in my face.

All of a sudden, he abandoned the pillow in favor of attacking me with his lips and his tongue. Not that I was objecting, although I flipped him over so that I was on top. There was just so bottom I would go, you know what I mean?

Anyway, soon, my shirt was gone and he was licking up and down my chest. I moaned out and ripped his shirt off – literally. As he licked up and down my chest, I played with his nipples. Our arousals pressed against each other, causing loud moans to escape.

"Oh, god!"

I know what you're thinking. Either Sasuke or I was so affected by the pleasure coursing through our bodies that we had to moan out those two words. Nope, you guys are wrong. The person who said that was actually standing in the open doorway with her jaw hitting the floor.

"Will you two put some _clothes on_!" Sakura yelled at us. I rushed to put my shirt on, and Sasuke just stayed half naked, because I had to rip his shirt off.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"Are you okay after…what happened?" I asked.

"Shikamaru told you?" she asked. Sasuke and I nodded, and she continued. "I'm fine – I kicked their asses. More importantly, Jiraya has an important mission for us."

"Us?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "You know, as in the three of us?"

I grinned and I knew I probably looked stupid, but I didn't care. "So it'll be the three of us, like good old times!" I said enthusiastically.

"I guess," Sakura said.

But that's when I realized something – it would be nothing like our genin team. Sakura and I had dated and broken up. I was with Sasuke, and she was a third wheel now. Not to mention the obvious fact that Kakashi was dead.

We made our way over to the Hokage mansion where Jiraya was sitting at his desk waiting for us. I closed the door behind us as we sat down.

"You three are about to be given a mission," he said. "It's a top secret S rank mission."

"Why aren't you sending an ANBU unit on this?" Sasuke asked.

"Because you two," he said pointing at me and Sasuke, "already have experience on this mission."

"What?" I asked.

"You two, along with Kakashi and Ino were sent to the Village Hidden in the Rain to investigate a possible invasion," Jiraya explained. "When they died, your mission failed, and you were forced to return to Konoha.

"This mission is dealing with the same issue, only there is a slight change in the strategy. You three, along with two team members of your choosing, will be in a five man squad that will go undercover as Rain Village shinobi to investigate.

"Your fourth and fifth squad members must be smart, and you must be sure of their abilities. They must also be chunin level or higher. So far, the only chunin that you know well that is not on a mission is Shikamaru Nara. If you cannot find a fifth member of your squad, I'll assign one from an ANBU unit."

We nodded and left the office, stopping in the hallway to talk.

"Obviously we're going to need Shikamaru," Sasuke said, eliciting a slight groan from Sakura, but neither of us cared to ask. "But other than him, does anyone have any ideas for another partner?"

"Kiba," I said instantly. "He's a good tracker, and he and Akamaru can come in helpful sometimes."

"Except he's still a genin," Sakura explained. "Weren't you listening to Lord Hokage?"

"I'm sure the Pervy Sage'll make an exception," I said.

"I'm sure he won't," Sasuke said. "Naruto, you can go home and pack. Sakura, look for Shikamaru. I'll tell Jiraya we need his ANBU guy."

"Right," Sakura said with a nod before leaving.

"Who put you in charge?" I asked with a humph, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Hn, dobe," he said, leaning over to connect our lips. It was a nice moment that ended all too short when he pulled away. "Go pack…for both of us," he said with a light smile that made my heart jump.

An hour and a half later, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Sakura and I were all waiting by the village gate for our mysterious fifth member before we could leave. I had been smiling inwardly after packing Sasuke's clothes.

You see, he didn't exactly tell me _what_ to pack for him, so I put in a few of my orange jumpsuits for him to wear. I thought it would be funny.

Sasuke probably won't when he finds out.

We were going to be late if we didn't get going soon, and I was going to suggest that we leave without this mystery guy, but then Sasuke pointed to a figure in the distance.

He wore a black shirt that had a high collar but only covered the top half of his chest, leaving his stomach exposed. He had a red backpack on, and the handle of what appeared to be a tanto sword stuck out over his shoulder. He wore plain black pants and black shoes.

He physically resembled Sasuke with a fit body, and black eyes and hair, but he seemed…different. For one, he was pale – like Orochimaru pale, not Sasuke pale. Also, his hair was cut very short, showing more of his face than Sasuke. He also had a big, stupid smile across his face that reminded me of my grin.

"Greetings," he said. "My name is Sai, and Jiraya put me on your squad for this mission."

"You're our teammate?" Sasuke asked, scrutinizing his appearance. "Well, we should get going now, then," he said, turning on his heel. And just like that, we were off!

As we were jumping from tree to tree, I decided to start conversation with Sai. "So you're in the ANBU at your age?" I asked.

"Yes," Sai said, still not losing his smile. "I've been trained as an ANBU member since birth, so I didn't have to waste time in the academy or as a genin or chunin."

"That's cool," Sakura said, joining in on our conversation. "So how old are you?" she asked.

"I'm fifteen," he said.

"Oh, so are we!" I said. He also seemed to be much more sociable with Sasuke, who was having a very quiet conversation with Shikamaru right now. Oh, well. It didn't really matter. All I knew was that maybe this mission wouldn't be so bad.

OoOoOoOoO

**Author's Note: From this point on, the story will be from a normal POV because the story needs it to be that way.**

OoOoOoOoO

Sasuke couldn't help but think that Sai was up to no good. He didn't know exactly why he thought it. Maybe it was incredibly forced, fake smile, he couldn't put his finger on it. That's why he started to talk to Shikamaru.

"What do you think of this Sai guy?" Sasuke asked.

"My honest opinion?" Shikamaru asked. Sasuke nodded, and the brunet continued. "I don't think he seems trustworthy."

"So it's not just me?" Sasuke asked.

"No," Shikamaru said, "there's definitely something weird about him that I don't like."

"Sakura and Naruto seem to trust him," Sasuke commented.

"Sakura and Naruto are very trusting," Shikamaru said.

"That's true," Sasuke conceded. "What do we do?"

"Lord Hokage would never have put him with us for no reason," Shikamaru said. "Sakura also told me that he very purposefully suggested I join you guys, and I think he might have had a reason for that."

"What do you mean?" the Uchiha asked.

"He isn't stupid," the brunet said. "He probably sensed the same vibe from Sai that we do. That would lead me to the question of why would he put _him_ with us."

"Shikamaru," Sasuke growled. "I know you have an idea, so just tell me. Don't drag this out."

"Fine," Shikamaru said. "I think that maybe Sai requested to be on our team, and Jiraya thought it was suspicious. Remember that saying 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. Jiraya knows that while Naruto and Sakura can be very trusting, you and I see things more clearly. That's why he suggested I be on your squad, too. He wants us to figure out what he's up to."

"But why would Sai want to be on our team?" Sasuke asked. "And what is he up to?"

"We need to figure it out," Shikamaru said. "Right now, we're suspicious, so he won't be able to pull one over on us. Sakura and Naruto are another story."

"Then you stay with Sakura, and I'll stay with Naruto, and we won't let them be alone with him," Sasuke said.

"I'm sure you _will_ stay with Naruto," Shikamaru said with a smirk.

"Shut up," Sasuke said with a glare. "We'll just have to keep a close eye on him until we know what's up."

"Right," Shikamaru said. "That shouldn't be tough. But remember one thing – he's an ANBU, so he shouldn't be taken lightly."

"Right," Sasuke said. He decided to join the conversation Naruto and Sakura were having with Sai. Maybe he could get a few clues from what he said.

Unfortunately, he didn't get anything. Sai only spoke when spoken to, and he'd never give much information unless it was directly asked. The conversation seemed to be more held by Sakura and Naruto with Sai listening in. An unknown, possible dangerous threat who was learning so much about his friends was dangerous, and Sasuke wasn't going to take this lightly.

Sasuke and Shikamaru decided that Shikamaru would sleep in the same tent as Sai and that Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura would sleep in the other tent. They told everyone it was because they knew each other from Team Kakashi and were familiar with each other, but they had a plan. Sasuke would protect Sakura and Naruto, and Shikamaru would try to learn things from Sai.

While Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were setting up their tent, Shikamaru wasted no time setting up his. While he worked, Sai seemed to be drawing or writing something on a scroll. While Shikamaru was rolling it up, he glanced over to see Sai rolling up the scroll and leaving the small area they decided to camp in.

_This is the perfect opportunity to see what he's up to_, Shikamaru thought. He stealthily moved through the shadows to try and spy on Sai.

Sai sat down and pulled out another scroll and quickly drew a picture of a hawk.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll," he whispered, and the hawk came to life. He attacked the letter to it and let it fly away.

Shikamaru's eyes went wide. _Obviously he's trying to communicate with someone. If I can stop that hawk, then I'll be able to find out what was in that letter._

The hawk flew low in the sky, which worked to Shikamaru's advantage. He ran to the very top of the tree and he began hopping from the top of the tree to the top of another. When he finally got close enough to the hawk, he did a hand sign.

"Shadow Sewing Jutsu!" he said, and the shadows that the moon cast on the tree reached up and grabbed the hawk, destroying it, and causing the letter to fall. Shikamaru caught it and sat on the treetop he was on, opening the letter.

_**I was successful in convincing the Hokage into letting me go on the mission with the targets. There is one additional ninja, but he shouldn't be a problem. I will lure them into the ambush tomorrow, so be prepared.**_

_**Sai**_

_What was Sai up to?_ Shikamaru wondered to himself. He rolled the scroll back up and prepared to return to camp to show Sasuke.

"Shikamaru," the black haired ANBU said, shocking the brunet.

"You followed me," Shikamaru said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

The two ninja stood on the top of the trees, and Shikamaru knew he'd have to fight Sai now. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but from the words 'ambush' and 'target', he knew he and Sasuke were right.

"You don't want to fight me," Shikamaru said. "There is a lunar eclipse tonight, and my mastery over the shadows is stronger."

"I'm not scared," Sai said. "I'll defeat you."

Shikamaru turned around to face his enemy and preformed a hand sign. "Shadow Sewing Jutsu!" he yelled. In an instant, the shadows surrounding the ninja crushed Sai, who's body exploded into ink.

_An ink clone!_

Sai jumped up out of the trees behind Shikamaru, and opened his scroll, which had a picture of three lions on it.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll!" Sai said. The three lions came to life, and attacked Shikamaru, who barely dodged it.

Sai stood opposite Shikamaru with the three lions next to him as they stared each other down.

_So his abilities seem to all be about his scrolls. If he can't draw, he can't fight with jutsu, which increases my chances of victory. I need to somehow get him to drop the scroll down to the ground._

_If I use my shadow possession jutsu, then I can get him to do that, but I'll need a clear path to him, or else he'll just avoid it._

That's when Shikamaru came up with his plan, and he had Naruto to thank. He had thought back to the fight Naruto had in the chunin exams with Kiba. He decided to trick Kiba by confusing him when he transformed into him. He didn't know which Kiba was Naruto and which one was Akamaru, and he ended up losing that part of the fight.

He made another hand sign. "Cloud of Darkness Jutsu!" he yelled, and the battlefield was surrounded by darkness. He knew Sai and his beasts couldn't see, so it was working in his favor. He transformed into one of the lions, and he ran over towards where they were. He dispelled the darkness, and blended in with the other beasts.

"I know what you're trying to do," Sai said. "It won't work. I can just dispel them and re-summon them." The real beasts all melted into pools of ink that fell to the ground, and Shikamaru transformed back. He was so close!

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" he yelled before Sai could draw the beasts. His shadow shot out and hooked Sai. "Shadow Possession Jutsu, successful," he said with a smirk. He held out his hand so that when his actions were mirrored, Sai's scroll was hovering 20 meters over the ground. He opened his hand and the scroll fell.

Shikamaru's victorious smirk soon turned into an expression of horror when Sai melted into ink once more. The real Sai popped out of the trees and stood across from Shikamaru with his scroll out.

"For a genius, you seem to fall for the same tricks often, don't you?" Sai asked. He pulled out his pen and he drew four lions. "Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll," he said, and the beasts came to life once again, two on either side of Sai.

_Sai and I are both long range fighters, but I can't attack him while his beasts are after me. I have to somehow hurt Sai to get his beasts to be dispelled again._

Within a few seconds, another plan was formed. Shikamaru ran towards Sai, and the lions raced to attack Shikamaru. Right as they were about to make contact with him, he stopped running and jumped straight up, avoiding the lions. He pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag and he threw it at the tree that Sai was standing on.

Within seconds, the trey blew up, but Sai had already hopped off of it. Shikamaru hid himself in the smoke while he performed a clone jutsu. His clone ran out to attack Sai, which attracted his beasts to defend him.

While his clone distracted the beasts, the smoke began to dissipate, so Shikamaru dropped into the trees. He silently moved so he was underneath Sai while his clone was distracting the ink lions. While his clone lured the lions farther and farther away, Shikamaru decided it was his chance. He took out a kunai that he would use in hand to hand combat with Sai.

As Sai watched Shikamaru fall back while fighting off his lions, he sensed that it was a plan. No sooner had he realized the trap, than Shikamaru popped out of the trees with a kunai, trying to land a hit on the artist. Sai jumped out of the way and pulled out his half-tanto. He and Shikamaru began to fight one on one with their weapons, as Sai silently called his beasts back to defend him.

Shikamaru hadn't remembered Sai's sword, and he cursed himself inwardly. The lions were rapidly approaching, and he didn't have enough time to stop them. He pushed himself backwards from Sai and made a hand sign.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu," he said. His shadow shot towards Sai, but Sai dodged. Shikamaru saw Sai falling back towards another shadow, so he used his chakra to have the shadow from behind him trap him. It worked, and the real Sai was Shikamaru's prisoner.

Unfortunately, the lions were still there, and they took the opportunity to attack Shikamaru. He dodged, and Sai was forced to jump as well. Shikamaru threw his kunai through two of them, causing them to melt into puddles of ink. Sai's body mirrored the motion, throwing his sword at the third beast.

Shikamaru decided to get rid of Sai and the beast at the same time. He moved towards Sai so that they met in the middle. When the lion was on a collision course for them, Shikamaru broke his jutsu, dropped an explosive tag kunai knife, and jumped in the air to dodge the beast. Not a second later, it exploded and Sai and the beast were no longer in sight.

_Sai should still be visible. He must be waiting to make a counter attack_.

Shikamaru heard a visible hiss and he looked down to see an ink black snake around his ankles. His eyes widened in horror. _Oh shit!_ The snake constricted around his feet, preventing further movement. Within seconds, more snakes appeared and began crawling up Shikamaru's body.

He pulled out his kunai and stated stabbing them one by one, but there were too many. One snake managed to get by, and it constricted around Shikamaru's forearms, effectively tying Shikamaru up. Shikamaru struggled to break free, but only managed to fall down the 20 meters into the ground.

There was a gash on the side of his head and he was bleeding profusely, not to mention the broken bones in his body. He fought against the insane urge to black out, but he couldn't understand how Sai managed to do it. He saw Sai through his blurry vision walk towards him.

"I can't let you live now that you know my plans," he said. He pulled out his tanto and brought it down on Shikamaru's throat.

**Author's Note: Buahahaha. Don't hate me, because you'll have a nice surprise next chapter. There will be one last battle scene and another lemon (or two) before the story ends in the next few chapters. So how did you like it? This was my favorite battle scene to write so far in this fic, so tell me what you think.**

**By the way, I know this was a day later than I promised, but it took a while to write and I had a small case of writer's block that I needed to overcome. Besides, it was only one day. My next scheduled update is this Saturday, 11/20. I'll probably have **_**that**_** one up in time. :) Oh, yeah, remember to review!:) I want six reviews before I post again.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: We've been through sixteen chapters together…you know the drill.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the EXTREMELY late update…life's been catching up to me, so I won't be able to post as frequently as I'd like. I'm going to say it'll definitely be done before the end of the year, even though I promised before the end of the month. There are very few chapters left, and this chapter contains the last few battle scenes. ;( And I made sure to put in a good lemon towards the end to make up for everything. :)**

**I liked the response I got from my reviewers: **LoveUntilWeBleed, Musicgirl1796, **and **BadButt94. **Not nearly as many reviews as I would have wanted. Maybe if I had more reviews, I would update faster. They do give me inspiration.**

**I'd like to share an excerpt of one review in particular:**

**-I swear if you kill Shikamaru I am going to punch freaking babies. Yeah, not baby, but freaking babies. Multiple infants shall be punched if you kill Shikamaru so…SAVE THE BABIES FROM GETTING PUNCHED!-**

**I'd like to thank LoveUntilWeBleed for that amazingly funny review. I just want to tell you guys something. 1. By now, you must know I love giving cliff hangers. If you are not pulling out your hair after you read a chapter, I feel like I've failed. 2. I said there would be ShikaSaku, which can't happen if the Shika half dies (unless I kill Sakura off and have them hook up in heaven…but then we have Ino to deal with…anyway, I'm rambling). I'm just going to say this now, because you'll find out in the first few minutes of reading: SHIKAMARU DOESN'T DIE. So put down your kunai knives and read.**

**NOTE: I do not condone any violence in name of my stories, including, but not limited to: punching babies, kicking puppies, kneeing old grandpas in the balls, and ripping heads off of bunnies.**

Chapter Seventeen

Shikamaru decided to get rid of Sai and the beast at the same time. He moved towards Sai so that they met in the middle. When the lion was on a collision course for them, Shikamaru broke his jutsu, dropped an explosive tag kunai knife, and jumped in the air to dodge the beast. Not a second later, it exploded and Sai and the beast were no longer in sight.

_Sai should still be visible. He must be waiting to make a counter attack_.

Shikamaru heard a visible hiss and he looked down to see an ink black snake around his ankles. His eyes widened in horror. _Oh shit!_ The snake constricted around his feet, preventing further movement. Within seconds, more snakes appeared and began crawling up Shikamaru's body.

He pulled out his kunai and stated stabbing them one by one, but there were too many. One snake managed to get by, and it constricted around Shikamaru's forearms, effectively tying Shikamaru up. Shikamaru struggled to break free, but only managed to fall down the 20 meters into the ground.

There was a gash on the side of his head and he was bleeding profusely, not to mention the broken bones in his body. He fought against the insane urge to black out, but he couldn't understand how Sai managed to do it. He saw Sai through his blurry vision walk towards him.

"I can't let you live now that you know my plans," he said. He pulled out his tanto and brought it down on Shikamaru's throat.

As the tanto pierced the skin of Shikamaru's throat, Sai realized he'd been tricked. When the blade ran right through the body, he knew it was all a trick. He watched as the body turned into a black shadow before vaporizing.

"You fell for my Shadow Replacement Jutsu," Shikamaru said with a smirk. "You're not the only one who's good at deception."

Shikamaru's shadow reached out to attack Sai, who jumped backwards. He was surrounded by shadow, so he needed to work fast. He opened his scroll again to draw some more beasts.

_Perfect_.

"Shadow Sewing Jutsu," Shikamaru said. Sai dodged it successfully, but he didn't realize what the shadow sewing was meant to do. Before Sai could react, he realized the shadow punctured a hole in his scroll, rendering it useless.

Sai retreated from the shadow and threw the scroll away. Now he had beaten Sai. His only jutsu was taken away from him. He knew he was going to be victorious, but he didn't anticipate Sai's next move.

For Sai's next strategy, he needed the open air that the treetops provided, so he ran up the trees to resume their open air battle. Shikamaru followed, not willing to let Sai escape. When Sai reached the top, he pulled out two scrolls from his backpack, and he unrolled them both.

Shikamaru broke through the treetops and stood on a tree right next to where Sai was.

He looked at the scrolls and saw one had a picture of a Chinese dragon and the other was blank. He briefly wondered what this was, but he couldn't give Sai a chance to use it. He made a hand sign and tried to trap Sai in his shadow possession jutsu, but it failed.

The eclipse had ended, and the moon shone brightly on the treetops. There were no shadows.

Shikamaru was screwed.

"You think you beat me just because you destroyed the damn scroll?" Sai asked. "You're nowhere near victory." He bit his thumb and drew a line down the open scroll with the dragon. "Ninja Art: Dragon Summoning Jutsu."

In a flash of light, the dragon appeared. It wasn't very big, but it was fast, and it was in the air. Even if Shikamaru _could_ use a shadow, he was nowhere within range.

Sai picked up the blank scroll and held it out towards Shikamaru. The dragon moved so that Shikamaru was between it and Sai.

"You won't escape this time," Sai said. The dragon charged at Shikamaru, who couldn't avoid the speed. The dragon pushed Shikamaru through the air towards Sai's open scroll. "Sealing Technique: Scroll of Imprisonment!" he yelled.

As Shikamaru hit the paper, his body became lifeless, limp. His mind and his soul were no longer there, as evidenced by the black and white depiction of Shikamaru in the previously blank scroll.

The dragon returned to its scroll, and the body was picked up by Sai. "I think it's time to return to camp, and tell the others about how awful it was when you were attacked."

Sai returned to the camp where Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were waiting by a fire. He faked a limp, and he had made sure to slice his leg with a kunai just in case.

"What happened!" Sakura asked, noticing his limp and Shikamaru's body.

"We were attacked by Rain ninja," Sai said. "They did something to Shikamaru, but I got them to retreat."

Sakura listened to Shikamaru's chest and felt his wrist. "He still has a pulse and he's still breathing. It just seems like he isn't there."

"They used some weird jutsu on him," Sai explained the unsuspecting ninja.

"What about you?" Naruto asked. "Are you hurt?"

"Just a little scratch," Sai said, indicating his calf. "It's nothing."

It didn't matter, because Sakura made it a point to check out the wound and to wrap it. After she had wrapped his wounds, the group decided that they would have to return to the mission at hand and just protect Shikamaru's body.

"There's one thing I learned about the enemy," Sai said to the three other ninja as they were jumping through the trees.

"What's that?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"They mentioned something – some sort of hideout – and I think I know where it is."

"Then let's go!" Naruto said. "Just point the way."

As they changed direction, Sakura took the time to approach Sasuke.

"You don't trust him, do you?" she asked the raven.

"No, I don't," he said. "I think he has something to do with what happened to Shikamaru."

"So do I," Sakura said. "He faked his wounds. The angle that his wounds made were so obscure that he must have done it himself. He'd only do that to cover up something."

"Shikamaru and I – we both didn't trust him from the beginning. That's why we split up last night – him to try to find out what Sai's up to, and me to protect you two because you found him to be trustworthy."

"Then you think…" Sakura trailed off.

"I think Sai figured out what we were up to," Sasuke confirmed. "I think we should be prepared for a possible battle when we get wherever he's taking us."

"What about Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"He's always trusting," Sasuke said. "Unless we have proof of our suspicions, he'll give him the benefit of the doubt. It's safer to just stay like this, and if there's some sort of ambush, we'll make sure we're ready."

"Right," Sakura said. They continued the trek in total silence, trying to formulate plans to stop Sai. First, they needed to know what he did to Shikamaru, or else it would all go to hell.

"I had a thought," Sakura whispered to Sasuke after a few minutes. "Sai is leading us somewhere, and we have no idea where. What if it's an ambush?"

"I was thinking the same thing," Sasuke said. "Use a substitution jutsu, so that we won't be in the line of fire."

"What about Naruto?" she asked. Sasuke looked longingly at his boyfriend before sighing.

"We can't tell him or Sai would know we're on to him. We have to just trust that he's a good enough shinobi to take care of himself on the battlefield."

Eventually, Sai led them into a small clearing in the woods, and Sakura got chills up her spine. She looked around and her eyes widened in shock.

"Sasuke! This is where…"

"This is where my brother died," a voice said from the wood. A bolt of lightning shot out and hit Sasuke square in the chest. "And it is where the three of you will die, too."

Ishichi stepped out of the woods holding his sword in his hand and smiling. Sai had already taken out his scroll, and Naruto and Sakura were surrounded by ink beasts.

"Sai!" Naruto yelled. "What are you doing?"

"He's with Ishichi," Sakura said, pulling out a kunai. "We've been tricked."

Naruto looked to see where his boyfriend landed, but he only saw a single log of wood. That was when the chirping started.

Ishichi turned around to see Sasuke rushing towards him with the chidori. He pulled out his sword that had an electric current running through it and the two electrical attacks clashed.

Meanwhile, Sakura took the opportunity to shove her hands in the ground. "Ninja Art: Earth Manipulation Jutsu!" she yelled. Stalactites burst from the ground, piercing every ink beast surrounding them. She rushed at Sai, but he dodged it. Naruto remained frozen in spot, shocked at what was going on.

Finally, Ishichi pushed the Uchiha off of him and pointed his sword at Naruto. The blond turned in time to see Ishichi's lips move and a flash of blue lightning erupt from the sword and head right towards him. Sasuke saw the blond fall, motionless, and cried out.

He gripped his shoulder in pain as he felt Orochimaru's curse mark begin to expand once more, taking over the entire left side of his body. With the curse mark and the Sharingan, Sasuke charged at Ishichi with a stronger chidori.

This time, Ishichi''s sword could not withstand the attack and he fell backwards, hitting the ground with a thud. Sai noticed his leader struggling and decided to retreat. Sakura, however, wouldn't let it happen, and she pursued her foe.

Ishichi picked himself back up and thought of how to approach the situation. He saw the gold mine standing in front of him as the blond groaned in pain. Ishichi smirked and jumped so that he was standing just over Naruto's body. He bit his thumb and touched the ground as a seal appeared.

"Lightning Style: Electrical Prison Summoning!" he yelled. Four pillars grew out of the ground, surrounding Naruto in a box. All sides of the box lit up with electricity, preventing the blond from getting any help. Ishichi smirked and turned to Sasuke. "With every passing second, the electrical walls of his prison shrink, closing Naruto in. Only I have the power to free him before he is electrocuted in exactly five minutes."

"You bastard!" Sasuke yelled. The curse mark retreated and he had to use his knees for support to not fall over. Two chidori was his limit, and he didn't know if he could do it again. He needed a plan, and quick, or else Naruto would die.

Meanwhile, Sai kept running with a livid Sakura trailing not far behind. He kept having to duck to avoid shuriken and kunai that the kunoichi had been throwing at him. Finally, he saw what he was looking for and he rushed even faster. Sakura ran through the wood to catch up to him, and all of a sudden the forest ended.

She saw Sai running on the large body of water in front of them and she sent chakra to her feet as to be able to walk on it. She chased Sai who stopped running and faced her with a smirk on his face. He pulled out his scroll and drew something that Sakura couldn't make out before performing a hand sign.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll," Sai said, and three large sharks leapt out of the scroll and into the water. The beasts surrounded Sakura, who instinctively plunged her hands down.

But instead of the earth, she felt…water?

Shit.

Sai had led her out into an ocean where she couldn't protect herself. Deciding she needed weapons to defend herself, she tried to take out a kunai only to realize that she threw all her kunai and shuriken at Sai during the chase.

For all intents and purposes, she was fucked.

She jumped into the air to avoid the first shark attack and managed to hit the second with a kunai, making it explode into an ink puddle in the water. She pulled out two shuriken and began to run from the sharks, luring them away from Sai.

Meanwhile, Sai was drawing more and more sharks to attack Sakura. The sharks swam towards her, and by the time she was far enough away from Sai, she was surrounded by fifteen.

Sai smiled as she got ready to throw her shuriken, as the sharks would easily overpower her. The sharks converged on her as she threw a shuriken at one, and Sai's cocky smirk was plastered onto his face.

The smirk faltered, however, when the shuriken passed right through the shark.

'_A clone jutsu!'_ Sai realized. He didn't have enough time to dodge the shuriken that attacked him from behind as the real Sakura appeared. The shuriken hit Sai square in the back, but a cloud of smoke appeared. When the smoke dissipated, there was a log with a shuriken stuck in it floating in the inky water.

The real Sai and the real Sakura faced each other as the sharks began to swim back towards the two ninja. Sakura pulled out a kunai with an exploding tag and threw it at a shark that was in the middle of the pack. When the bomb exploded, most of the sharks exploded in a mess of ink. Sai smirked.

"I never would have imagined you to be this powerful," he said, pulling out his tanto. "Maybe we should settle this…alone." He waved his tanto and the remaining sharks melted into ink puddles. Sakura pulled out a kunai and the only sound that could be heard was the clang of metal hitting metal. They sparred with each other for a while, evenly matched.

All of a sudden, Sakura couldn't move her feet anymore. She looked down to see all the ink that Sai's beasts had accumulated on the ocean top had solidified around her feet. Sai smirked and ran towards her with his tanto, ready to kill her.

Sakura started to perform hand signs in a rush and she said, "Earth Sytle: Stalactite Wall". For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then, stalactites shot out of the water, blocking Sai's path to the trapped Sakura.

"You forget that the ocean floor is made of earth," Sakura said. A final stalactite broke through the ink, freeing its creator. Sakura began to climb her earth wall with kunai knives that had exploding tags attached. After she got far enough up, she'd leave them in the wall and pull out another one. By the time she reached the top, there were twenty exploding tag kunai in the wall.

She jumped off the wall, landing on the other side of Sai, who pulled his tanto free of the wall. He turned to face Sakura and shrunk his eyes in a glare. He made a hand sign with the sword still in his hand and the pointed half of the sword was completed with solidified ink.

Sakura knew that the ink was probably also poisonous, so she had to avoid it as much as possible. She dodged his first three attacks, but his fourth managed to rip her shirt. She was breathing heavily and she knew she only had a few more seconds before her last opening would be complete.

She ran past Sai, who chased her, towards her earth wall. She climbed it with her feet, and Sai continued to chase her. Finally, they both reached the top and Sai smirked, cornering the kunoichi. Sakura did a backflip to jump off it, just as the twenty exploding tags she left on the wall exploded.

The wall crumbled, and Sai fell with it. He was pinned underneath a sinking chunk of rock, unable to get out. When he and the rock hit the water, he knew he had to get out from under or he'd drown. He didn't have enough time, however, before the rock pinned him to the ocean floor.

On the top of the water, Sakura watched the bubbles slowly cease, showing that nothing under water was breathing. She bowed her head, and ran across the water, desperate to reach Naruto, Sasuke and Ishichi.

OoOoOoOoO

As Sasuke watched Sakura run in pursuit of Sai, he knew he needed a plan or else both he and Naruto would die. Naruto slowly began to stand up, badly battered.

He began to battle Ishichi with taijutsu, which got them nowhere. Sasuke delivered a hard kick to Ishichi's back, but Ishichi delivered a powerful right hook. After a brief minute, they were both battered and bloody, and Sasuke's Sharingan was running out of power. He decided to make an attempt at genjutsu.

Ishichi pointed his sword at Sasuke and let out a lightning bolt. As it was going to his Sasuke square in the chest, Sasuke's body opened up, a hole forming, and the lightning passed right through it. As soon as the lightning was gone, Sasuke's body went back to normal and the Uchiha ran towards the Mist ninja.

"What's going on?" Ishichi asked as he went on the taijutsu offensive. A second Sasuke appeared behind him and he was overpowered. The two Sasukes made two chidori and they ran at Ishichi. "You shouldn't be able to do this!"

As the two Sasukes hit Ishichi, he realized that he was, in fact, under a genjutsu. He smiled and he made a handsign, uttering "release". The genjutsu collapsed and Sasuke fell to his knees, simply out of chakra.

Ishichi began to approach Sasuke, who was still guarding Naruto in his weakened state. He pulled out a kunai and threw it, but Ishichi deflected it with a kunai of his own. Sasuke threw two more kunai, but attached an exploding tag to one. Ishichi jumped out of the way of the explosion, but continued to approach the exhausted shinobi.

"Finally, I will have my revenge," Ishichi said, pulling out two kunai. He threw them both at Naruto, but Sasuke jumped in the way, getting hit twice in the back. He spat blood onto Naruto's awakening face, and the blonde's eyes widened in shock.

"S-Sasuke," he whispered. "No." Sasuke gave him a small smile before collapsing.

Sasuke's curse mark returned, and he felt Orochimaru's presence trying to take over more of his body. Sasuke knew that if he let Orochimaru take over him, there was no telling what was going to happen next, but he needed the sannin's power quickly.

Naruto was having a similar struggle as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox began to slowly take over. Just like Sasuke, Naruto knew this was possibly dangerous, but he needed the extra power.

A cloak of red surrounded Naruto as a tail of chakra formed. His eyes became red slits, and his teeth and nails grew more pointed as his hair became even more unruly. Meanwhile, Sasuke's curse mark took over his whole body. His skin turned a dark gray, his hair lengthened, his eyes turned yellow, his lips appeared blue, and he had a pair of hand-shaped wings on his back.

Sasuke bent down to the ground grasping his right arm with his left, beginning to produce a third chidori. Meanwhile, Naruto, on the other side of Ishichi, began a rasengan in his hand. The two ninja jumped towards Ishichi with their deadly jutsu in their hands.

Ishichi could feel the power radiating off of their jutsu and he decided to dodge it by jumping straight up, out of the way. The rasengan and the chidori collided causing a huge explosion, leveling much of the area. Ishichi was barely able to escape, but by the time his feet touched the ground, Sasuke and Naruto were passed out on opposite ends of their battlefield.

Ishichi's feet hit the ground with a small thud and he smiled, trying to decide who to kill first. He pulled out his sword and he pointed it at Sasuke. But before he was able to shoot a lightning bolt at the unconscious raven, he felt a kunai in his back. Blood ran down his chin from his lips and he turned to see the pink haired kunoichi who he had seen run off with Sai.

Sakura's opportunity had not been wasted as she erected a wall of earth to protect her from Ishichi's incoming electrical attack.

"Earth is strong against water, so you're screwed," Sakura said. She plunged her hands into the ground and activated her kekke genkai. A fist of earth popped out from the ground and clutched Ishichi in its grip.

Under the ground, she squeezed her hand into a fist and the earth fist tightened to match, squishing Ishichi. But, when he would have died, he disappeared in a mess of electricity and Sakura felt a jolt of lightning from behind her.

Ishichi's lightning clone had tricked her, and his attack sent her flying back towards Sasuke.

"You three are very troublesome," he said, pointing his sword at her. "But there's no one to save you now."

Sakura closed her eyes, waiting for the attack that never came. Instead she heard a gasp and she opened her eyes to see Ishichi motionless. Below him, he had a dark shadow, which trailed back to…

"Shikamaru!" Sakura yelled.

Indeed, the brunet was standing with his hands in the usual hand sign for the Shadow Possession Jutsu, and his shadow had caught Ishichi right before his fatal blow. His hair and clothes were wet as he stood, dripping, waiting to finish off the Mist shinobi.

"Shadow Sewing Jutsu!" he said as five more shadows launched themselves at Ishichi's body. His body was pierced by the shadows and a hallowing yell echoed throughout the clearing. As Ishichi's body fell to the ground, Shikamaru smirked. "Only I can call her troublesome."

OoOoOoOoO

"What's the mission report?" Tsunade asked two days later when the four chunin appeared before her.

"Our mission was a failure," Sasuke said. "The ANBU member you appointed to us, Sai, was a double agent. He was somehow in cahoots with the rogue ninja Ishichi Hoshigaki.

"While on the mission, Sai engaged Shikamaru Nara in combat away from us, and he sealed him within a scroll. The next day, he led the three of us into an ambush where Ishichi was waiting for us.

"Sakura engaged Sai in battle and ended up killing him, releasing Shikamaru from the scroll. Naruto and I engaged in combat with Ishichi and were both severely weakened. Naruto and I both fell, and were going to be killed when Sakura stepped in. She was also overcome by Ishichi, but Shikamaru came in at the last second and saved us.

"Ishichi is currently under interrogation with Ibiki, and Sai is currently rotting in the bottom of a lake. All of the members of this squad have been checked out at the Leaf Hospital, and we are all fine, save for some minor, superficial injuries."

"Thank you, Sasuke," Tsunade said. "You all may go."

OoOoOoOoO

Shikamaru walked Sakura back to her home to make sure she made it there okay. He was going to go back home, but Sakura's parents invited him to stay for dinner, and who was he to refuse free food?

After Shikamaru and the Haruno family finished eating, Sakura insisted on walking him to the door, where they finally had a chance to be alone.

"I can't believe I came so close to losing you," she said with tears forming in her eyes. "I know we're just friends, but it would be so hard to lose you so soon after losing Ino. It's like you're all I have left of her."

"I feel the same way," Shikamaru said. "Sure there's Choji and Asuma-sensei, but it isn't the same. She loved you; you were her best friend."

"And you were the guy she loved," Sakura said. He turned away sadly and she tentatively touched his shoulder. "She wouldn't want you to do it, you know," she told him.

"Do what?" he asked, not looking the pinkette in the eyes.

"As soon as you left here you were going to go to Ino's grave, weren't you?" she asked. At his lack of response, she sighed. "Jeez, you're worse than Kakashi-sensei!"

"You don't know what it's like," he said, still not facing her. "How would you feel if Naruto all of a sudden died?"

"I'd be distraught," Sakura conceded. "But my relationship with Naruto is nothing like yours was with Ino. I realized while we were on the mission that I don't really have any feelings for him other than a strong friendship."

"That means you understand even less," Shikamaru said. "When you truly love somebody and lose them, then you can judge me on how I'm acting."

"She'd want you to be happy!" Sakura pleaded. "She wouldn't want you to waste your life. She'd want you to find happiness and even love with someone."

"She's been gone for a few months!" Shikamaru said. "It's too soon."

"I'm not saying go find someone to love right now," Sakura said. "I'm saying to keep yourself open, and don't give up your life. She wouldn't want you to throw it away." She turned away from Shikamaru and walked back into her house, closing the door behind her. Shikamaru sighed and began to walk away from the house.

OoOoOoOoO

"Thanks for telling me your suspicion of Sai," Naruto muttered sarcastically when they got back to their apartment. They'd been having the same argument for hours, and Sasuke was ready to kill the blond if he didn't just shut up.

"You give everyone the benefit of the doubt, dobe," Sasuke said. "Is it really impossible to think that you would have told Sai our suspicions? Then he'd change his plan and we'd have been fucked!"

"Still," Naruto muttered with a pout while crossing his arms over his chest, "you should have told me. I went into it blind and I was the first one taken out!"

"I kind of like you as the damsel in distress," Sasuke said with a sly smirk moving closer to the blond.

"Stop trying to get me to forget I'm mad at you!" Naruto said as Sasuke reached him. The raven bent over and started to bite on Naruto's neck. "I could have been the awesome hero as usual, but you…oh god…you…you…what was I saying again?"

Sasuke grunted and shrugged his shoulders before finally detaching himself from Naruto's new hickey. The blond looked like he was going to speak again, so Sasuke made it his prerogative to shut him up.

The pale raven's lips clamped over those of the sun kissed blond and they began to passionately kiss. Sasuke's tongue swiped Naruto's bottom lip, and in that moment, the blond decided to forget his anger for something more rewarding. He opened up his mouth and Sasuke's tongue leapt out of his mouth to taste every crevice of Naruto's moist cavern.

Naruto pushed Sasuke to the bed and pinned him down with a sly grin. He lifted the raven's shirt above his head and discarded it. He bent down and licked around Sasuke's torso before dragging his tongue up to give Sasuke a hickey in return for his own. When Naruto was finished, he refocused on licking Sasuke's chest, stopping to suck on a pert nipple.

Sasuke moaned as he felt the suction on his nipple while the other was being rolled between two skilled fingers. Sasuke screamed in pleasure as he felt Naruto bite down. Naruto then continued to lick down Sasuke's stomach, stopping at the hem of Sasuke's pants.

"P-Please," Sasuke begged. Naruto didn't need any further provocation as he unbuttoned the raven's jeans and pulled them down, taking the boxers with them. Sasuke's throbbing erection stood in front of Naruto's face with some precum beginning to leak.

Naruto engulfed the member down to the base, causing Sasuke to almost come right there! Naruto bobbed up and down, making sure to cause as much pleasure for the raven as possible. He began to talk around Sasuke's cock, sending euphoric vibrations through Sasuke's cock.

"S-Stop," Sasuke said, and Naruto obeyed. Naruto pulled his clothes off in record time as Sasuke got a bottle of lube and a condom from the night stand.

"No," Naruto said. "I don't want to do this with a condom," the blond said. "I want to feel you inside me." That was all the motivation Sasuke needed to throw the condom over his right shoulder before he pounced on his boyfriend. They rolled around, naked, in the bed for a few seconds before Sasuke squeezed some lube onto his fingers.

He pushed into Naruto's opening, not allowing Naruto to adjust to it before putting a second finger in. He waited a few seconds before scissoring the blond, who moaned in pleasure. Sasuke pumped his fingers in and out of the blond, before finally reaching the sweet spot.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled out as the raven hit his prostate. Sasuke hit it continually five more times, reducing the blond to a moaning mess. Sasuke smirked, deciding to add a third finger. He pumped in and out before returning to prostate.

After hitting it another two times, Sasuke saw Naruto's erection and he knew he was _painfully_ hard. Sasuke pulled his fingers out and sqeezed some lube in Naruto's ass and onto his own member. Slowly, Sasuke aimed his cock with Naruto's ass and began to push in.

He was too slow for Naruto's taste, as the blond slammed his ass down until he felt black pubic hairs on his ass. Sasuke gasped and moaned at the sudden sensation and intense heat. Naruto began to take charge, repositioning them so he could ride the raven. Naruto smirked inwardly at Sasuke's look of intense pleasure.

Sasuke, deciding he wanted to be a more active seme, decided to re-reposition them so that he could slam into Naruto and hit his prostate every time. Naruto started to moan loudly, and they both began to feel the onset of orgasm reaching them. With one last grunt, Sasuke came within Naruto, and the blond felt the raven's semen rush through him. The sensation it caused pushed the blond over the edge as he moaned Sasuke's name.

Naruto collapsed on top of the exhausted Sasuke and they eventually managed to get under the covers. Who cares if it was 3 in the afternoon? They had a long mission, and an intense last fifteen minutes, so they deserved the sleep that overcame them with Naruto's head resting on Sasuke's chest. The raven ran his hands through Naruto's hair and whispered, "dobe," before falling asleep like the blond.

OoOoOoOoO

Shikamaru stood in front of the tombstone in somber silence. He knew deep down what Sakura had said earlier was true – Ino wouldn't want him to waste his life. But he still didn't really accept that Ino was dead. It didn't make sense – Ino didn't seem _dead_.

It almost felt like yesterday that Ino was nagging Shikamaru about training for his match with Temari in the finals of the chunin exam. It was as if the days when he and Ino were always together were so recent. How could Sakura even suggest that he could move on so soon?

Shikamaru sighed before deciding to speak. "I miss you," he said, hands still in his pocket. He looked up at the afternoon sky with the clouds drifting by. "I don't know what to do. I've never been like this until you." He scoffed. "Love is so troublesome. Can you just give me a sign? Is Sakura right? Should I move on so soon?"

The wind began to pick up speed and a leaf was blown onto the tombstone, causing Shikamaru to smirk. "That isn't much of a sign." The wind continued to gain speed and he felt a slight pressure at his shoulder. He turned to see that the wind blew a cherry blossom at him. Delicately, he picked the blossom up and looked at it. "Sakura," he whispered. "You really think she was right? I should move on?" He was met with silence, and the wind did not pick up. "Fine, I'll stop coming by every day," he said, standing up. He turned around to see Sakura standing behind him.

"It's about time," she said, hugging Shikamaru. She pulled away and looked at him. "I'm glad you're not going to waste your life here."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Coming here all the time was too troublesome anyway," he muttered. "But you know that since you suggested I should do things for myself, that means you'll have to be my shogi opponent."

"I don't even know how to play," Sakura admitted.

"It's a pretty easy game," Shikamaru shrugged. "Besides, you're good at planning and strategy. Who knows? You might just give me a run for my money."

"Count on it," Sakura said with a smile. They walked back towards his house together and played shogi.

She won.

**Author's Note: So how did I do? Did I make up for the length of wait? There are going to be very few chapters left to this story, but I plan on having it done by the end of December. Maybe two more chapters and an epilogue? That sounds like what'll end up happening. Anyway, you know the deal – review please. I'll even give you all cookies right now in the hopes you review. Did you eat them yet? Good.**

**Now, review or I won't give you the antidote…mwahahaha. Oh, and I'm going to give a shameless plug to my other two SasuNaru stories, **Life Moves On, **and** Not Just Another Fake Boyfriend Story.** I know my titles aren't very good, but I find that to be the hardest part. And as soon as this story and LMO are over, I already have another story that I'm planning on starting, so if you want to be alerted, you can click the author alert so you know when I post a new story and stuff.**

**So that's it for my amazingly long author's note. Remember, review or you don't get an antidote.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Alrightee kids, quiz time: Question 1. Do I own Naruto? Question 2. Should I own Naruto?**

**Here's the answer key: No and yes.**

**Author's Note: Hey all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm not entirely sure if this will be the second to last or third to last chapter, but it is very near the end…we'll see how things play out. I know the last chapter will be an epilogue, so this is either the last real chapter or the second to last.**

**Anyway, I'd love to thank my reviewers again. **Musicgirl1796, LoveUntilWeBleed. **Oh, and to **Ryotigergirl. **She just found my story recently and reviewed chapters one and two, saying that she likes it so far, but after the second she fell off the face of the earth. If you're out there, **Ryotigergirl**, did you get caught up? Do you like it? These kinds of things keep me up at night…lol.**

**So, anyway, I'm out of things to say, which is weird because I usually have long ass author's notes at the beginning. So…um…enjoy, I guess. Oh, and review (but I'll say that ten more times in the AN after the chapter like I always do).**

Chapter Eighteen:

It finally seemed as if life was perfect. Ishichi was out of their lives, Sasuke took care of Itachi, Orochimaru was gone, Sasuke and Naruto were together, and everything was right with the world.

So why did Sasuke feel so…empty?

He slowly creeped out of the bed he was sharing with Naruto, making sure not to wake the blond, before climbing out on top of the roof. He just sat there in the brisk autumn night, staring at the full moon.

"It's peaceful out here, isn't it?" came a voice from behind the raven, causing him to jump. He turned around and faced a man wearing the ceremonial Hokage garb without the hat. His spiky white hair fell down in a ponytail, extending long past his back.

"What are you doing here, Lord Hokage?" Sasuke asked.

"I felt your unease earlier today while you, Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura were in my office," Jiraya said. "I think I know why you're up here."

"Oh, really?" Sasuke asked, his voice filled with sarcasm.

"Yes," Jiraya said. "It's finally sunk in, hasn't it?"

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"You're alone."

"Excuse me?" the Uchiha asked. "I'm not alone – I have Naruto. And I have friends."

"But you don't have any family," the Hokage said.

Avoiding eye contact with the sage, Sasuke spoke up again. "I haven't had any family in years."

"That's not true," Jiraya said. "You had your brother, Itachi."

"He's not my family," Sasuke said, trying and failing to make his voice as impassive as possible. He clenched his fists tight. "He died along with the rest of them."

"Once again, you're wrong," Jiraya told the raven. "He's always been alive. Even if he was evil, and even if he wanted you dead, you knew there was someone who was watching, and who cared."

"I have that still, with Naruto," Sasuke said.

"And that's the crux of your second problem," Jiraya said. "You're afraid that you'll lose him."

Sasuke thought for a second about denying it, but he knew it was futile. It was as if Jiraya had looked into a crystal ball of his life. How could the sannin know what he was thinking, what he was feeling? It was hard enough for Sasuke to figure out on his own.

"How do you know all this?" the raven asked. "How do you know how I feel about Itachi or Naruto? How do you know what I'm afraid of? What makes you think you know me?"

"Because, Sasuke, you're pretty easy to read," Jiraya said. "You spend so much time putting on the perfect mask that if it cracks even once, someone's gotta know something's up. If you weren't feeling any of this, why wouldn't you be in bed with Naruto right now?"

As if his name made him wake, Sasuke heard his lover's faint voice from inside the room below. "'Suke?"

"I'll leave him to you," Jiraya said, bowing away. "But know this: Naruto won't leave you. If he says he loves you, then he means it." As quickly as Jiraya seemed to appear, he seemed to disappear in thin air.

"That's just it," Sasuke whispered to no one in particular. "He hasn't said it."

He jumped when he heard a voice from behind him – again. "Sasuke? What are you doing up here?" The blond rubbed his eyes, indicating how tired he was.

"I just wanted to think," Sasuke said.

"About what?" Naruto asked his boyfriend.

"About life," Sasuke said, looking back up at the full moon. "So much has happened in such a short time."

"I know what you mean," Naruto said, following my line of vision to look at the moon. "It's beautiful, you know." Sasuke nodded. "Just like you."

"Naruto –" Sasuke began.

"What did you mean before when you said, 'he hasn't said it'?" Naruto asked. Shocked, Sasuke turned to look at him. "Were you talking about me?" The raven didn't even know the blond heard him!

Sasuke nodded. "It's nothing, really. I'm just being silly."

"It's because I haven't told you I love you yet, isn't it?" Naruto asked. Reluctantly, Sasuke nodded. "I'm sorry," the blond continued. "I just don't want to say it until I'm 100% sure that I love you. I know I have very strong feelings for you, but I don't know if it's love, yet."

In those words, Sasuke's world was shattered.

"I understand," Sasuke lied.

"I just don't want to hurt you," Naruto said. "I'm not going to make a promise until I'm 100% sure I'll keep it."

"I said I understand!" Sasuke yelled. "You don't need to try to reassure me. I'm not a little girl whose gonna burst into tears because you don't love her!"

"Calm down," Naruto said. "Just because you're a guy doesn't mean you can't have feelings and that they can't be hurt."

Sasuke scoffed. "I don't get my feelings hurt, Naruto," Sasuke said. "I'm an Uchiha."

"Sorry," Naruto whispered. "I forgot Uchihas were robots without feelings." Before Sasuke could respond, Naruto had jumped back into their…his…apartment.

Sasuke didn't regret a thing. Just because he was in love with the dobe didn't mean he had to show his heartbreak. Just because the dobe had hurt him didn't mean he had to let go of the mask. After all, he'd hidden behind his feelings for so long before; it shouldn't be hard now.

_Flashback:_

_Naruto and Sasuke were alone in Naruto's apartment. They had just found out they'd be participating in the chunin exams. Naruto was excited, Sakura was nervous, and Sasuke was indifferent. Sakura had to go home to tell her parents about it, but neither Naruto nor Sasuke had parents anymore, so they had nothing to do._

"_Dobe, stop acting so annoying," Sasuke commanded after the fifth time Naruto gave him a huge, idiotic grin. It was a grin that made Sasuke's heart jump, but he didn't react at all except to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration._

"_I can't help it," Naruto said. "How can you not be excited? We're gonna finally become chunin!"_

_Sasuke scoffed. "It's not a done deal."_

"_What do you mean?" Naruto asked, his excited smile faded from his face._

"_Well, first off, we're only rookies," Sasuke pointed out. "There will be much older, more experienced genin there. And do you know how many genin there are in this village?"_

_Naruto shook his head._

"_Well, let's just say that there is never a problem finding someone for every D-rank mission in the village, from babysitting to finding lost pets."_

"_So…a lot?" Naruto asked._

"_Yes, baka," Sasuke said. "A lot. Most of whom will qualify for the exam. And that's only the hidden leaf village. There are the other five great villages, and the Cloud Village, Lightning Village, and Mist Village have more shinobi than us. You remember the mist, right? The place where all genin had to kill their graduating class?"_

_He heard and audible gulp from Naruto, and Sasuke took that to mean he could continue. "Then there are those sand ninja we ran into the other day, and they didn't exactly look like pushovers. And I haven't even mentioned the fifteen minor villages."_

"_M-minor villages?" Naruto asked._

"_Why, yes," Sasuke said with an evil smirk. "The Rain Village, the Star Village, the Waterfall Village, the Rock Village, the –"_

"_Okay, I get it," Naruto said. "But I thought you were an Uchiha? Are you doubting yourself?"_

"_No," Sasuke said. "I have complete faith that _I_ will survive_."

"_What do you mean 'that _you_ will survive'?" Naruto asked._

"_Do you really think you can handle it? I mean, you can barely do any jutsu other than the Shadow Clone Jutsu and that ridiculous transformation jutsu you created."_

"_You mean the Sexy Jutsu?" Naruto asked with his idiotic grin back at full force. "I bet I could defeat you with that. I've already gotten Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Lord Hokage, and Ibisu. You'll be a piece of cake."_

"_Sure," the raven told the blond. "Whatever you say."_

"_Ready?" he asked Sasuke. He made a handsign. "Sexy Jutsu!" In a poof of smoke, he transformed into a naked girl with lots of curves._

_Had Sasuke been straight, he would have lost. But he found the blonde's other form to be the more attractive one and he had no problems fighting _that…_ Wait, did Sasuke just think Naruto was _attractive_? That was weird. Sasuke shook his head clear of thoughts and faced the blond again. Within seconds, Naruto was on the ground back in his male form with Sasuke sitting on his back._

"_Ow, Sasuke," the blond whined. "That hurts!"_

"_Your Sexy Jutsu will never work on me," Sasuke said._

"_Why?" Naruto asked. "What, are you gay?" he burst into laughter at his own joke, but Sasuke just glared. Eventually, it shut Naruto up. "_Are_ you gay?"_

"_No, dobe," the raven lied. "I just think with the right brain. If you try it sometime, maybe you'll come up with a useful jutsu."_

_They stood in silence for a few seconds before Naruto shyly looked to the ground._

"_Do you really think it'll be that hard?" he asked with his voice barely above a whisper._

"_If it was a piece of cake, would there still be any genin in the village?" Sasuke asked._

"_I guess you're right," Naruto said, sounding depressed. Now, Sasuke was feeling guilty. The dobe was all excited about the chunin exam and he made him nervous and scared. After a heavy sigh, he walked over to the blond._

"_Don't worry about it," he said. "You always surprise us. I wouldn't be surprised if you made chunin."_

_Naruto's face seemed to light up like a Christmas tree. "Do you really think so?"_

"_If you stop trying to use that Sexy Jutsu in combat and actually work on a real technique, yeah, you could make chunin easily."_

"_Thanks, Sasuke," Naruto said, pulling the raven into a hug. It was too quick for Sasuke's tastes, but when he pulled away, Naruto had a big smile. "Now get back to being the cold bastard I know before you start to scare me."_

_How the fuck did he let Naruto's sadness warm the box of ice that surrounded his heart?_

_End Flashback._

Sasuke followed Naruto to apologize for yelling at him, but he found the blond wasn't in their apartment anymore. There was a hastily written note on the table that had the blonde's awful handwriting. It took Sasuke a minute, but he eventually figured out what he wrote.

_Teme, I'm sorry that I made you angry. You can go back to bed without worrying – I'm just going to be out for a little bit. Oh, and if you wake up before I get home, remember to go out and get some cup ramen. We're almost out._

_-Dobe_

Sasuke read the note twice over before pinching the bridge of his nose. How was he supposed to not worry? The worst part was that their fight had been over absolutely nothing. Sasuke was hurt that Naruto never said he loved him and he lashed out.

He wanted to go find Jiraya to tell him about their fight, but he didn't know where the Hokage would be. He could talk to Shikamaru, but it was close to 4 in the morning, and no one would be up at that ungodly hour. Especially not Shikamaru, who's always taking naps.

It took a few seconds to decide to find Naruto. Sasuke wasn't good at apologizing, but he'd give it a try for the dobe.

He checked the top of Mount Hokage, thinking the blond would want to talk to his father, but there was no luck. Instead of trying to chase Naruto around the Hidden Leaf Village until sunrise, Sasuke decided to just sit right down on the stone fringe of hair on the Yondaime Hokage.

"I really do love your son," Sasuke said to the stone. "Enough that he's got me talking to a rock."

He sighed. He had fallen hard for Naruto. He was supposed to be the icy cold bastard, and here he was, guilty over snapping at his boyfriend. How did he let Naruto change him so much?

"He really is special, you know," Sasuke said. "I'm sure you'd be proud of him. Jiraya's even training him to be Hokage, so he'll be following in his father and his teacher's footsteps."

_Flashback:_

_Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke were all sitting next to each other on the roof of the academy across from Kakashi. They had just met their teacher and they were already unimpressed. How could such a skilled jonin fall for Naruto's stupid prank with the eraser on the top of the door?_

"_Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves. One at a time," Kakashi said._

"_Introduce ourselves?" Sakura asked. "Well, what are we supposed to say?"_

_Kakashi shrugged. "Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that." He crossed his arms over his chest to hear his student's responses._

_Naruto decided to speak up, still confused about what they should talk about. "Why don't you tell us stuff first? I mean, before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work."_

"_Me?" Kakashi asked, pointing to himself. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate – I don't feel like telling you that."_

"_Huh?" Sakura and Naruto asked at the same time. Sasuke, of course, just sat there acting bored._

"_My dreams for the future," Kakashi continued. "I never really thought about it. As for my hobbies – I have lots of hobbies."_

_Sakura glared at his response and whispered to the two boys. "That was totally useless. All he really told us was his name." Naruto nodded in agreement, and Sasuke continued to just stare into space._

"_Okay, your turn," Kakashi said. "You on the right – go first."_

"_Believe it!" Naruto said, adjusting his forehead protector. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I _really_ like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is – to be the greatest Hokage! Then, the whole village will stop disrespecting me, and start treating me like I'm somebody…somebody important."_

_End Flashback_ (1)

"It's always been his dream," Sasuke continued, talking to the stone monument. "And now he'll finally have it. And I'm grateful I get to be here when he does."

The wind began to blow and a green leaf floated through the breeze. It landed in the palm of Sasuke's hand. He stood up, and faced towards the rest of the village.

"Naruto will be the best Hokage the Hidden Leaf Village has ever seen," Sasuke said. "And now, I have to go find your son and apologize."

Sasuke took off, knowing where the blond was. Duh, after a fight with Sasuke, he'd want to be somewhere where he could feel close to him.

And where in the Hidden Leaf Village did Naruto and Sasuke feel closer to each other than ever before? The single creek that ran through the village. He remembered the day that changed their life, and he remembered it clearly.

_Flashback:_

_"Sasuke!" Naruto said, running over to him and throwing his arms around him. He buried his head in his shirt. "Thank god you're here!" Sasuke could feel tears dampening his shirt, but he didn't comment, wondering what the hell was going on._

_"Hn," he grunted. "What are you doing here, dobe?" he asked, pushing the blond away. Naruto coughed violently, worrying Sasuke to no end._

_"Sasuke, I need to tell you something. It's about your house." He looked up at Naruto, confused. The blond coughed some more, before Sasuke sat him down and gave me some water. After he had a few sips, he continued. "Ishichi burned your house down."_

_Sasuke jumped to his feet. "He__what?"__The rage in his eyes was unmistakable. Naruto coughed some more, causing Sasuke to forget his anger to help the blond breathe._

_Naruto nodded once his coughing fit was over. "I saw it happen. I thought you were in there. I was so scared, I thought I lost you too."_

_"My house is..." he began._

_"It's gone," Naruto said. Sasuke dropped to his knees in total shock. It was all he had left of his parents. Of his childhood. Of the time before he became so alone. Sasuke just stared into space for a while, while the blond was quietly reading his face for any expression of emotion._

_"Then I really have nothing," he said._

_"That's not true, Sasuke," Naruto said. "You have me." Sasuke looked at the blond with anger in his eyes._

_"Not in a way that matters. Not in the way I need you."_

_"What are you saying, Sasuke?" Naruto asked. But he knew damned well what he was saying. He'd overheard Kakashi and Sasuke talking, and there was no way to ignore it._

_"I love you, Naruto," he said, tears threatening to form in his eyes. "I love you in a way you can never love me. I love you.."_

_Naruto stared at him in silence, unable to say a word._

_End Flashback_

It was there that he first proclaimed his love for the blond. Sure, he felt rejected and left the village, but it was all made up when Naruto went to find him.

He knew the blond loved him – he even said it in the tent that one night while he was searching for Sasuke and Sasuke was following them. He even almost said it to Sasuke before Sasuke's confession. But no matter how the blond felt inside, he didn't want to tell Sasuke.

_I want to make sure I was 100% sure_.

The dobe said that, which meant he wasn't 100% sure the other times. Sasuke had always known deep down that Naruto loved him, but when he said that, it was like the rug got pulled out from under him.

But that didn't matter right now. He had to find Naruto. He had to make things right. Even if Naruto wasn't sure exactly how he felt, he knew the blond felt _something_ for him, and pushing him away wouldn't earn him any points.

He finally reached the creek and saw the blond sitting, holding his legs to his chest with his back against a big rock. It looked like a sitting fetal position, and Sasuke suddenly felt ten times more guilty.

"Hey," Sasuke said, sitting next to the blond. Said blond wiped his face of tears before looking at Sasuke.

"I'm sorry," the blond said.

"It's not your fault," Sasuke said. "I should never have snapped at you like that."

"And I should have told you I loved you," Naruto said.

Sasuke shook his head. "I never want you to feel pressured because of me. I'd die if you ended up not being in love with me after telling me you were."

"But I _am_ in love with you, Sasuke," Naruto said. "That's why it's so weird. Just a few months ago, I thought I was in love with Sakura. We were going out, and I thought I had everything I ever wanted.

"If I could tell her I love her and then be fickle about it, why can't I do the same to you? How could I know for sure I was in love?"

"I get it," Sasuke reassured the blond. "So please, don't tell me you love me, yet."

"But I do," Naruto said. "I was thinking out here. I knew I didn't really love Sakura because even when I was with her, I felt empty inside. You make me feel full."

A sly smile spread across Sasuke's face, but Naruto playfully pushed him. "That's not what I meant and you know it!" he said with a smile on his own face.

"Wanna change that?" Sasuke asked, leaning in to the blond. He captured the blonde's lips in a kiss. It was passionate, but not forceful. It was sweet, but not meaningless. It was the perfect expression of their love. In one word, it was SasuNaru.

Sasuke laid Naruto down on the dewy grass, and neither of them cared if they got wet. All that mattered were their lips on each other's. Sasuke began to lift Naruto's shirt, but the blond protested.

"Sasuke!" Naruto scolded. "We're in public! Stop it!"

"I don't care," Sasuke said, nuzzling the blonde's neck. "It's three in the morning. No one's awake."

He recaptured the blonde's lips, this time in a much fiercer kiss. This time, Naruto didn't resist, being equally fierce and passionate. Sasuke's mouth detached from the blonde's and he licked a trail down to his neck, sucking at a piece of exposed flesh.

Naruto moaned Sasuke's name as Sasuke sucked, determined to give the blond the world's greatest hickey. The raven felt the blonde's hand running through his hair, stroking his scalp while he nipped and sucked.

Sasuke pulled away and admired his handywork before pulling off Naruto's shirt. He looked down at the tanned flesh that shone in the moonlight before lowering himself to lick down Naruto's chest. He stopped at his nipple and sucked it into his mouth, eliciting even more pleasurable sounds from the blond.

"Nhng," Naruto grunted as he bucked his hips into Sasuke's the friction was unbelievable, but they needed to be just a little bit more naked. Sasuke pulled off of the one nipple, dragged his tongue to the other, and circled the tongue for a little more before standing up and lifting his shirt off himself.

Naruto scrambled to drop his jeans, taking his boxers down in the same motion. Naruto stepped out of his clothes and stood naked before his boyfriend, who was painfully hard. Sasuke made a frantic move to drop his pants, but Naruto stopped him, bending on his knees in front of the Uchiha.

Naruto slowly pulled the belt out of its loops, and watched Sasuke's pained face as his erection painfully strained against his confining clothes. Naruto smirked, teasing the Uchiha. He knew what he wanted, and he wanted it soon. Sasuke also knew what the blond wanted, but there was no way an Uchiha would beg and ?

Naruto was sucking on Sasuke's cock through the fabric of his sweat pants. Sasuke moaned and mentally chided himself for doing so. But the blond was just so good, and wherethefuckishishand?

Indeed, the blond was lightly caressing Sasuke's thighs, almost sending the raven over the edge right there. But he knew he wanted Naruto right now. But he couldn't beg. But look at the dobe's face! But he couldn't beg. But Naruto was so cute when he puffed his cheeks out like that in frustration. But he couldn't beg. But Naruto's mouth and hands and…and…

"Please," Sasuke moaned. "Please, Naruto, do it."

Naruto smiled before yanking his pants and briefs down in one fluid motion and quickly reattached himself to Sasuke's penis, this time without the layer of clothes in between. He began to eagerly bob up and down on the cock and it took mere seconds for Sasuke to spill over the edge and cum in Naruto's mouth. The blond eagerly swallowed every drop before standing to kiss Sasuke on the mouth.

Sasuke tasted his cum from Naruto's mouth and he moaned into the kiss when the blond tweaked a nipple. His knees were weak, and he would have fell over if the blond hadn't pulled him down first. They continued to kiss until Sasuke pulled away.

He placed two fingers in front of Naruto's face, and the blond wordlessly took them into his mouth. He sucked on the fingers until they were nice and lubricated and then he pulled them out.

"You want to do this with no lube?" Sasuke asked.

"Like I'd let you stop at this point," Naruto scoffed. Smirking, Sasuke poked one of his fingers into Naruto's tight hole. The blond moaned, and soon, another finger was added. Sasuke pumped his fingers in and out before beginning to scissor the growingly impatient Naruto.

Finally, Sasuke curled his fingers up and hit Naruto's prostate, making the blond see stars. Sasuke added another finger and continued opening up the blonde's hole. Finally, when the blond was sufficiently prepared, Sasuke lined his cock, still wet from Naruto's blow job, up with the blonde's opening.

Sasuke slowly thrust into the hole, surprised at how tight the blond was. Naruto grunted in pain and pleasure, but he didn't voice any objections to going raw. It took all of Sasuke's strength not to plunge all the way in to the inviting heat that surrounded him. It was really tempting, but then Naruto would be hut, and Sasuke couldn't let that happen.

Sasuke finally had his cock in at the hilt, and Naruto had never felt fuller. He nudged back on Sasuke's cock, beckoning him to start thrusting. He started with a slow rhythm, but it picked up when the blond started thrusting back and increasing his pace.

Sasuke was so close, even after cumming before. He hit Naruto's prostate once-twice-three time, causing one-two-three shouts from the blond. He snaked his hands around Naruto and began pumping his cock in time with his thrusts. Naruto finally had it at the sixth time Sasuke hit his prostate, spilling his seed all over Sasuke's hand and chest. Sasuke felt the walls tightening around his cock, pushing him over the edge. He spilled his seed into the blond with such amazing force. They collapsed onto each other in a sweaty heap on the ground.

"We should really get dressed," Naruto panted. "We don't want anyone finding us out here."

They slowly stood up to gather their clothes, but a familiar voice stopped them.

"Hey, Akamaru, do you smell that? It smells like ramen…and sex," came the voice. Sasuke and Naruto's eyes both widened as the voice grew closer. "Someone just had sex over there!" Frantic, Sasuke dropped his clothes and pulled Naruto away, transforming them into two bushes.

Less than a second later, Kiba and Akamaru emerged from the woods across the stream and jumped over it to their side. Akamaru and Kiba both approached Naruto and Sasuke without realizing it was them.

"It's definitely coming from here, but the last time I checked, bushes didn't have sex," Kiba said. "Someone must be using a transformation jutsu."

Sasuke paled, but no one saw it. Naruto almost laughed then and there, visioning the brunette's flushed face if Naruto and Sasuke took down the jutsu.

"An orange jumpsuit?" Kiba asked. "Akamaru! Naruto just got lucky!"

Naruto almost burst out laughing then, but he could feel Sasuke's glare on him even if he couldn't see it.

"And a blue shirt…" Kiba continued, picking up the second article. "It's a guy's shirt!" he exclaimed. Sasuke and Naruto were both pale now (well, Naruto was as pale as possible, but he was still really tan). "Naruto's gay?" he asked the dog. "And the shirt smells familiar." He turned the shirt around and his eyes widened at the Uchiha crest on the back. "Naruto fucked Sasuke?" he asked incredulously.

Just then, all of Sasuke's hope went out the window when he saw Naruto dispel the transformation and grab a big leaf to cover his…erm…bits and pieces.

"Hey Kiba," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck, nervously. "Um…do you think you could forget about this?"

"You fucked Sasuke?" Kiba repeated, not even registering the blonde's lack of clothing.

"Sort of like the other way around," Naruto admitted sheepishly. Sasuke rolled his eyes and dispelled his own jutsu and hid his lower half behind a real bush.

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said with a faint blush.

"Oh, this is priceless!" Kiba yelled. He then flushed after noticing something he hadn't before. "Y-You're naked…B-Both of you."

"Yeah," Naruto purred. "Want to join us?"

Sasuke almost laughed at the speed that Kiba ran at, but he was grateful the blond had rid them of the intruder. He washed his chest off in the stream and looked at Naruto. "Let's get back," he said, pulling his shirt over his head.

"Okay," Naruto said. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Sasuke said. "Dobe."

(1) This was an actual scene in episode 3 of the anime. It took ten minutes to copy down the words and the actions. I would have done Sakura and Sasuke, too, but I didn't have the time.

**Author's Note: So we had three flashbacks: One I made up, one from the anime, and one from the story. I kind of did that to show how their relationship progressed.**

**Anyway, this was chapter eighteen, and I have plans for only one or two more chapters, but I know there will be an epilogue. Whether the next chapter is the epilogue or there's one more relies on the answer to this question:**

**Do you guys want an mPreg? I know I never warned, but I never planned on it. I just think that it would pull together the idea of their true happy ending. Anyway, I won't put it in if people don't want it, so review and tell me what you think.**

**And if this influences it – I've already decided not to do a sequel to this. I like where I've decided to end this, and there are really no loose ends (well, I guess there's one – the rain village might attack the leaf) to tie up – Ishichi's done, Itachi and Orochimaru are dead, and I've completely ignored the Akatsuki.**

**Anyway, this took so long to upload because of the lemon and the fact that I had to rewrite it. In the original, there was another fight scene with Ishichi and the Konoha 11 (minus Ino and plus Sasuke). But since the only ones we really saw were Shikamaru, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and Ino, so it felt kind of forced and out of place.**

**Anyway, remember to review and tell me: mpreg or no. Thanks for sticking with me through this story, and I hope you'll read my other ones: insert shameless plug for **Not Just Another Fake Boyfriend Story** and **Life Moves On** which can be found on my page ^^**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto because Masashi Kishimoto is been a meenie bobeenie banana fanna fo feenie and he doesn't want to give me the rights. ::pouts::**

**Author's Note: Hey all…so I got a pretty unanimous response about the mpreg question. So yes there will be mpreg, but not quite **_**yet**_**. I will in the epilogue, which I will post later this week.**

**Anyway, thanks again to my reviewers: **llandry43, LoveUntilWeBleed, maisha, Eztli (feel better…how's the cold?), Musicgirl1796, BegToDiffer, **and** anime-obsessed95.

**Anyway, here's the final chapter. I was going to wait until Christmas, but **_**I **_**couldn't wait that long to post it. So instead, I'll be giving you the epilogue on Christmas. Also look out for a Christmas one shot for SasuNaru that I'm going to post. It's called **Dick in a Box**, and it also has some ShinoKiba, GaaLee, and ShikaNeji. Anyway, remember to review :)**

Chapter Nineteen:

It had been two weeks since the incident in the woods, and when Sasuke and Naruto finally got back to the village (let's just say they had some more…pressing…matters to attend to), they found Kiba and asked him not to tell anyone. They still weren't ready to come out.

Or at least, Naruto wasn't, and Sasuke was trying to be patient.

Sasuke wondered why he always had to be the first. The first to admit he loved him, the first to want to tell everyone about their relationship. Why didn't Naruto want to shout it to the rooftops? Heck, who cares what anyone thinks? Sasuke's Itachi's brother and Naruto's the Nine Tailed Demon to most people. If they really cared what the villagers thought of them, they wouldn't have made it this far.

Sasuke couldn't keep it bottled up, though. He knew from the incident with the 'I love yous' that pushing Naruto wouldn't end up well at all. Well, it did end up well, but he could deal without the fight. Although if you fight, you can always have make up sex. To say Sasuke was torn was an understatement.

He decided he had to talk to someone, and he chose Sakura, of all people. Maybe it was a little insensitive to talk to her about his boyfriend problems with her ex, but he knew she was over him. He didn't know when it happened, but in last couple of weeks, she stopped looking so hurt around the two of them and started acting more sisterly. It was like she totally got over him.

So that's why Sasuke was waiting at the Barbeque shop, waiting for Sakura. When he saw the pink haired kunoichi entered, he got nervous. Was he just being silly, or was this a real problem? He decided to just get it out and see what Sakura thought.

"I was surprised you wanted to see me," Sakura said to him.

"Why?" Sasuke asked. "I know it was kind of awkward at first – you being Naruto's ex and all – but you don't seem all that hung up on him anymore. We've been getting along, haven't we?"

"Of course," she said. "But I was still surprised. You never asked me to hang out before the whole thing with Naruto happened. So what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on," Sasuke lied. "Naruto and I are fine."

"If that's true, then why are you so nervous, like you're lying?" she asked.

"Because I am," Sasuke said with a sigh. "What would you say to someone if you were in a pretty secret relationship, and you wanted to go public, but he didn't?"

"I see," Sakura said. "You want to come out to the village."

"I don't get why Naruto doesn't," Sasuke said. "I thought after he said that he loves me –"

"Whoa!" she interrupted. "He said _what_ to you?"

"He didn't tell you that he told me he loves me?" Sasuke asked. "I thought he was your gay best friend."

"He doesn't like to talk about…intimate things," she said.

"That's a lie, and you know it," Sasuke said with a smile. "I know he told you about Kiba."

"Well, duh!" Sakura said. "That was a classic Naruto story."

"That doesn't answer my question," Sasuke informed her.

"It's understandable that he doesn't want anyone to know about you guys," she told him.

"How do you figure that?"

"Do you remember what he told us when we were first introduced?" she asked.

_"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I_really_like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is – to be the greatest Hokage! Then, the whole village will stop disrespecting me, and start treating me like I'm somebody…somebody important."_

"He's afraid that Iruka won't get him any ramen?" Sasuke asked. He distinctly heard Sakura mutter something about dumb, stupid boys.

"Naruto has always been shunned by the village," Sakura said. "He's always been hated because of the Nine Tailed Fox. No one's ever really accepted him until us."

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "So why would he be upset? Who cares what they think?"

"He does," Sakura said. "You might not care, but he does. He's hurt anytime someone rejects him because of the fox, and he always tries to cover it up. He said he wanted to be the greatest Hokage so that he'll stop being disrespected. '_They'll start treating me like I'm somebody…somebody important'_. He _wants_ the village to accept him. Being in a gay relationship with you would be the cause of tons of rejection even without the fox complicating things."

"I never thought of it that way," Sasuke said.

"Talk to Naruto," Sakura suggested. "Tell him how you feel and just don't get mad if he's not ready."

"Believe me," Sasuke said, "I don't want to fight with him."

"Good," Sakura said. "I'm glad I could help."

"So what about you?" Sasuke asked.

"What about me?" Sakura said, confused.

"I know you didn't get over Naruto because of me," the Uchiha said. "Are you with someone?"

"No," Sakura said, her face flushing with embarrassment.

"Do you _want_ to be with someone?" Sasuke asked, smirking at her reaction.

"That's none of your business!" the pinkette said, trying to fight her blush. "This was supposed to be about you."

"Well, now it's not," Sasuke said. "So who is it? I only ever see you hanging out with Shikamaru." She looked away from him, and that's when it clicked. "Shikamaru? You like Shikamaru!"

"Shh," she said, putting her hand over his mouth. "Not so loud."

"Isn't he still upset over Ino?" the raven asked.

"Yes, but it's been months," Sakura said. "Eventually he'll be completely over her."

"And right now?" Sasuke asked.

"Right now he's at his house. He used to spend all his time at the cemetary."

"You shouldn't wait around for him," Sasuke said.

"But I have actual feelings for him," Sakura said.

"If he doesn't want to see what's right in front of him, then he doesn't deserve you," Sasuke said. "Just talk to him and see what he says."

"If I push him, it could ruin our friendship," the pink haired girl protested.

"Or it could start your relationship," Sasuke said. "If I never would have told Naruto I loved him, he would have never realized his feelings and we wouldn't be together."

"There are two differences. First, Naruto didn't even know he was attracted to guys. Shikamaru knows he's attracted to girls. Secondly, Shikamaru's the smartest person in the Leaf Village, and Naruto…well, let's just say that sometimes, if he had another brain, it'd be lonely."

"True," Sasuke said with a shrug. "But you'll always wonder if you don't talk to him. Just do it."

"Fine," she said. "I'll go talk to Shikamaru."

"Good," Sasuke said.

OoOoOoOoO

It was a nice day outside. The birds were chirping, the bees were buzzing, and the ninjas were ninja-ing. It was warm, but not hot out, and the sun shone through with no clouds in sight. Just a perfect day.

So why was Shikamaru sitting in his room all alone?

Sure, he was done obsessing over Ino, but he really didn't know what to do with his life. Sure, he'd be a ninja, but that was only a job. He had a personal life, too.

For months, he really only hung out with Sakura and Naruto. He saw Choji every now and then, but it wasn't like before. And every day he spent with the pink haired kunoichi was another day his feelings for her grew stronger. How could he be in love with Ino, but still start falling for Sakura so soon?

It was scaring him.

He had analyzed this all day. He had two options: avoid Sakura and hope the feelings went away, or just embrace them. But he was a genius. He's read too many books to really believe in the first plan. When have feelings ever gone away?

"This is all too troublesome," Shikamaru muttered when he realized he didn't think he'd be able to avoid Sakura for long. They hung out at least every other day, if not every day. She was beginning to take up most of his time.

That was when he heard the doorbell ring. His parents were out, so he had to get himself off his bed and go all the way downstairs.

How troublesome.

He walked downstairs and opened the door and was nowhere near surprised to see Sakura standing there.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," I repeated, stepping out of her way so she could walk back in. She passed me and stood inside the living room. I closed the door and followed her, flopping down on the sofa. "So, you come to play some shogi?"

"Actually, I think we need to have a talk," she said.

Now, Shikamaru wasn't stupid. In fact, he was the very opposite. He was incredibly smart. He was smart enough to know that the words "we need to talk" are generally succeeded by something really bad. He gulped audibly and Sakura smiled.

"It's nothing bad," she assured him. "I just wanted…no, I needed…to tell you something." I nodded, showing her that I was listening, and she continued. "I know that Ino hasn't been gone for long, and I'm glad you have decided to move on with your life."

"We both know you didn't come over all this way for you to just say that," Shikamaru said, standing back up. "Stop beating around the bush and tell me why you're really here."

Sakura blushed and looked to the ground before continuing. "I…I wanted to tell you that…" she broke off and remained silent for a few seconds before finishing her thought. "I…I have feelings for you."

Remember when Shikamaru deduced that "I have to talk" always ends badly? Well, he was inwardly saying any and every swear word he knew. He figured he'd have to confront his growing feelings for Sakura at some point, but he _really_ wanted more time to analyze things. Not that he hadn't been analyzing things for the last twelve hours.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said. "Like I said, I know it hasn't been that long since Ino died and you just decided to get over her yesterday, but I needed to tell you. I was talking to Sasuke and he told me if I don't say anything I'll always wonder, so I just wanted to ask you and I'll just be going now." She turned to walk out the door, but I stopped her.

"Sakura, wait!" Shikamaru said. She turned to face him with tears threatening to drop from her eyes. "Number one, you ramble too much. That was the longest run on sentence I ever heard." He took a few steps closer to her. "Number two, don't apologize for how you feel." He took another step closer to her so that they were barely an inch away. "Number three," he said, his breath ghosting on her lips, "I feel the same way." He closed the gaps between their mouths, and they were soon locked in a passionate, questioning, kiss.

They finally broke away about five seconds later and Shikamaru led her to the sofa.

"What does this mean for us?" Sakura asked.

"I guess it means we're together," Shikamaru said. "Would you like to go out sometime?"

"Like on a date?" Sakura asked.

"For someone who beat me in shogi, you can be pretty dense," Shikamaru said. "Yes, I mean on a date." Sakura bounced happily and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll be ready at eight. Make sure not to be late," she said, walking out the door.

"Something tells me she'll me more troublesome than even Ino," Shikamaru said to himself.

OoOoOoOoO

Sasuke walked into his apartment and was relieved to see the blond there, too. The blond was taking a nap on the sofa, but he was sitting up. Sasuke smirked to himself as he neared the blond.

He straddled the boy's lap and planted a kiss at the base of his neck. Naruto moaned and opened his eyes to see the Uchiha sitting on top of him.

"Hey," Naruto said.

"Good morning," Sasuke said before nipping at Naruto's neck again. "Wanna go on a date tonight?"

"Sure," Naruto said with a sly smile. "But first, let's do this." Naruto leaned in and captured Sasuke's lips before flipping them over so the Naruto was sitting on the Uchiha's lap.

He pulled off Sasuke's shirt before discarding his own and their lips reattached. Naruto's hands were fisted in Sasuke's raven locks, while Sasuke had one hand on Naruto's cheek and one on the small of his back, pulling him closer.

It took a few minutes before they pulled away. Naruto looked in Sasuke's eyes, and both cerulean pools and onyx orbs were filled to the brim with lust.

"Before we go on," Naruto said, standing up. He walked over to the door and closed it. "It's a good thing nobody saw us."

Sasuke's mood was completely ruined. Of course, the blond had to take this opportunity to remind Sasuke why he was upset earlier. The longer the day went on, the more he felt like he was some dirty little secret.

The blond crossed the room with his lust filled smile and began to kiss the raven, who pushed him away.

"I'm not in the mood anymore," Sasuke said.

"What did I do?" Naruto asked.

"If you don't understand, I'm not going to tell you," Sasuke said.

~~7 Hours Later~~

Shikamaru and Sakura agreed to go to the carnival that had just opened up in the Leaf Village. It was the one year anniversary of the invasion of the Leaf Village by the Sand and Sound, and they had a huge festival planned for the upcoming weekend with the carnival open all week. Sakura was excited and Shikamaru was…well…as excited as he could be.

"I'm glad you decided to come out with me," Sakura said.

"No problem," Shikamaru said. "I've sort of been feeling…something…toward you for a while."

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Too troublesome."

"Of course," Sakura said.

She decided that she would first drag Shikamaru onto the log flume ride, which he was less than happy about. It was one thing to make him _do_ stuff, but to make him _wet_ while _doing_ stuff? That was almost unacceptable!

Almost.

Five minutes later, a soaked brunet and a laughing kunoichi continued walked through the carnival hand in hand until they bumped into someone with very familiar blond hair.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, releasing Shikamaru's grip. "What are you doing here?"

"He's with me," came Sasuke's voice from the cotton candy stand. He walked over and offered the pink one to his boyfriend, who took the blue one instead.

"Pink, huh?" Shikamaru asked with a smirk.

"Shut up," Sasuke said, taking a bite out of his spun sugar. "I see you finally grew some balls and talked to him," he said to the pink haired girl.

"Of course," she said. "If I waited for him to do something, I would've been waiting months."

"Probably years," Shikamaru said with a shrug. Sakura playfully hit the back of Shikamaru's head.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto yelled. "If I said 'you finally grew some balls' to you, you'd hit me!"

"Yeah, I would," Sakura said.

"But, why does Sasuke get to say it?"

"Because you're _you_," Sasuke chimed in.

After a group laugh at Naruto's expense, the blond and the pinkette dragged their boyfriends to the Ferris wheel, where Shikamaru sat with Sakura and Sasuke sat with Naruto.

"This is nice," Sakura said as she and her boyfriend ascended. "As much as I like Naruto and Sasuke, I'd like to spend _some_ alone time with you on a date."

"I guess," Shikamaru said with a shrug. "At least we had someone for you to waste all your energy on."

"You really are the laziest person I've ever met," Sakura said. Shikamaru just shrugged and yawned. "I don't know _why_ I like you."

Meanwhile, in the cart below them, Naruto and Sasuke were having a conversation of a different sort.

"So, it's funny running into Sakura like that, right?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Sasuke said, practically ignoring the blond.

"Are we really doing this again?" Naruto asked. After waiting for Sasuke to respond, which the raven did not do, the blond continued. "You were so distant before even though _you_ were the one who asked me to go out with you. Then we run into Sakura and Shikamaru and you're Mr. Social, and now that we're alone, you're ignoring me!"

"That pretty much sums it up," Sasuke said.

"Tell me what I did so I can make it better," Naruto pleaded.

"This is one of those things you need to figure out for yourself," Sasuke said.

"All I did was close the door to our apartment and you pulled a total 180 on me!" Naruto said.

"It wasn't what you _did_," Sasuke said. "It was the reason you gave."

"What did I say?" Naruto asked. "I honestly don't remember." At this point, they were already back on the ground and the romantic experience of the Ferris wheel had gone wasted. Sasuke pulled the bar over his head and walked off, rejoining Sakura and Shikamaru without another word to the blond. Naruto followed and the four were walking through the carnival.

Sakura took the initiative to grasp Shikamaru's hand within her own, and Sasuke mentally cheered for her. He and Naruto were walking next to each other right behind the two. Sasuke played a mental war before deciding to just get over what Naruto had said, just so that they could enjoy the night.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the blond. "I overreacted. Let's just forget this ever happened." Naruto eagerly agreed. Sasuke reached over and grasped Naruto's hand, but the blond recoiled from the touch.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said in a harsh whisper. "What if someone sees?"

"For fuck's sake!" Sasuke said. "It's not like we're fucking against a wall! It's just holding hands!"

"In public," Naruto added.

Sasuke just walked faster, catching up to Sakura and Shikamaru who had been in a comfortable silence.

"What's going on with you and Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"He's being an ass and he doesn't even know it," Sasuke told her.

"Is this about…"

"Yeah," he said. "He just doesn't get it."

They eventually entered a sushi place and got a booth, Sakura sitting next to Naruto and Sasuke sitting next to Shikamaru. They looked down at their menus and ordered their dinner – Sasuke ordered a salad, and Naruto got a bowl of ramen. Meanwhile, Sakura got an order of sashimi and Shikamaru got their California roll special.

"I wonder how those got their name," Sakura said. Shikamaru shrugged.

"I never hear of a california," he said. "It's probably some sort of flower."

"Yeah, it sounds like a flower," Naruto commented.

"Hn," Sasuke said, throwing in his ten cents.

The waitress came over and collected their menus and took their orders before walking away. Their food was pretty good, but nothing above average. Their meal was peaceful, but it was when the check came that things started to go wrong.

At first, she had given out one big check, but Shikamaru called her back.

"Excuse me, but can we have one check for us," he said, indicating him and Sakura, "and one check for them?"

"Sure," the waitress said, beginning to walk away.

"Wait!" Naruto said. She turned around and walked back. "Make it three checks – one for them," he indicated Shikamaru and Sakura, "one for me, and one for him."

"It's okay, Naruto," Sasuke said. "I'll pay."

Naruto's cheeks flushed red and he spluttered. "I don't need you to pay for me."

"Shikamaru's paying for Sakura, just let me pay for you," Sasuke insisted.

"But they're on a date," Naruto said, eyeing the waitress nervously.

That was all it took for it to go to hell. Sasuke got up and walked out of the restaurant in a fume. Sakura kicked Shikamaru under the table and inclined her head towards the door Sasuke left through.

"Fine, I'll make sure he's okay," Shikamaru said with a sigh before following the raven. Sakura turned to the blond.

"What the FUCK is wrong with you?" she asked.

"What?" Naruto asked. "Sasuke and I agreed not to tell anyone about us."

"That might have been what _you_ wanted, but it certainly isn't what Sasuke wanted."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Sasuke wants to go public with your relationship you _idiot_!" Sakura yelled.

"He never said that," Naruto said, shaking his head.

"Well, it would take a total _dumbass_ not to look at the signs and be able to read between the lines."

"Can you stop insulting me?" Naruto asked.

SMACK!

"Ow! Sakura!" Naruto whined.

"Stop being such an idiot and just go public with him already!" Sakura said.

"What if I don't want to?" Naruto asked. "He's always been a step ahead of me in our relationship. He was the first to say that he loves me, and then he gets upset because I didn't say that I love him in time with his schedule. Now he's just pushing me again to come out?"

"He's not pushing you!" Sakura protested.

"No, he's just giving me the cold shoulder without telling me why and expecting me to realize that he's hiding his feelings."

PUNCH!

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Sakura asked. "The boy's completely head over heels in love with you. All he wants to do is shout it from the rooftops and you're just trying to sweep him under the rug! What the hell are you so afraid of!"

"How do you think people will react?" Naruto asked. "The prodigious Sasuke Uchiha – orphan of the esteemed Uchiha clan – is gay _and_ in love with the container of the beast that almost single-handedly destroyed the village. It's not exactly a supercouple in the making, if you get what I'm saying."

"Wait a second," Sakura said, "you're hiding because you're afraid about how your relationship will hurt _his_ reputation?"

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled. "Nobody in the village really likes me all that much except for the rookie genin and our teachers. I'm pretty much an outcast already. Why the fuck would I care if they don't like me being gay?"

"Naruto, we're not in the stone age," Sakura said. "The daimyo is gay. Gay marriage is legal within the borders of the Land of Fire. There are no homophobes here. Well, there are, but they don't exactly speak up."

"I know," Naruto said. "But it would still be better for him if we just stayed secret and he could pretend to have a normal life."

"Naruto, you are such an idiot!"

"What?" the blond asked.

"He doesn't _want_ a normal life!" Sakura yelled. "He wants _you_!"

Naruto bolted out of the restaurant and it took him seconds to find Sasuke. Shikamaru had just been talking with him, but he was on his way back to the restaurant to pay his bill.

"Hey," Naruto said to Sasuke.

"Are you sure you want to be seen with me?" Sasuke asked. "I mean, we're in public, you know."

"Ha ha, very funny," Naruto said. "Why didn't you just tell me you wanted to go public?"

"Because you're just so afraid of what people will say about you," Sasuke said. "I can't push you into it. It's something you have to decide for yourself."

"I didn't want to do it _because_ of you," Naruto said.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"You are the last Uchiha. Everyone expects you to get married and produce heirs and revive your clan. That's what _you_ want. I can't do that for you – I'm just a boy."

"Wait a second," Sasuke said. "You think that I'm going to leave you…for a _girl_?"

"You need to settle down eventually," Naruto said. "And it'll be easier if you never come out. If we stay secret, we can keep going on like this as long as we want."

"You really are a dobe, you know that?" Sasuke asked. "What part of 'I love you' don't you understand?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not going to give you up just because you can't give me an heir," Sasuke said. "I love you! I'd rather see my clan die out than give you up!" Tears started forming in the blonde's eyes.

"You…are you serious?" the blond asked.

"As serious as a heart attack," the raven said. "I'm not _ever_ going to give you up now, so you better just get used to it."

The streets were filled with people. They were in a well-lit area. They were in plain view for anyone and everyone to see them. But Naruto didn't care. Sasuke didn't care. All that mattered was Naruto's lips on Sasuke's. All that mattered was them. Finally, they were coming out to the whole village.

Sakura and Shikamaru walked outside the restaurant just in time to see Naruto run up the side of a flag pole to the very top. From his position, he could see the whole village. People were beginning to look, but he didn't care.

He cupped his hands over his mouth to make a makeshift megaphone and he spoke out to the crowd.

"Attention everybody!" he said. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I am going to be the next Hokage, and I just wanted to let all of you know – I'm in love with Sasuke Uchiha!"

Meanwhile, down below, the raven joined his friends and leaned over to the pink haired girl so he could whisper something to her.

"So, shout it from the rooftops, huh?"

~~7 Days Later~~

Sasuke thrust in and out of Naruto, picking up speed as it went on. The blond moaned as Sasuke continually hit his prostate.

"Sas…uke…don't…stop," the blond moaned.

"Fat…fucking…chance," Sasuke panted.

Finally, he felt his balls tighten, a sign of his impending orgasm. He took Naruto's stiff length in his hand and began to jack him off so that they could cum at the same time.

The fruits of Sasuke's labor showed when they both screamed each other's names simultaneously as they came.

Sasuke collapsed on top of Naruto, both of them sweaty, sticky, and panting.

"There's something I wanted to ask you," Sasuke said, reaching over Naruto towards their night table. He opened up a drawer and pulled out a small box. "Naruto Uzumaki, will you marry me?"

"What?" Naruto asked.

"It's not a hard question," Sasuke laughed.

"No," Naruto said.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke, we're sixteen!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I know, but we're of legal age in the Land of Fire!" Sasuke complained.

"We're still too young," Naruto said. "Put the ring away and ask me in seven years. If we're still together, we'll know we're meant to be."

"Okay, fine," Sasuke said, closing the rind box and putting it back in the drawer. "But you better make it up to me."

"Fine, but I get to top this time," Naruto said.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Come on!" Naruto whined. "I never get to top." He pouted and Sasuke relented.

"Fine, but this is my first time bottoming," Sasuke said.

"Aw, does Sasu-chan want me to take it easy on his virgin ass?" Naruto said with a grin.

"Shut up or next time I top, I'm going in raw," Sasuke said.

Naruto laughed and pulled his boyfriend into another kiss. Their tongues battled for dominance, but Naruto just wouldn't let Sasuke take this away from him. He smiled and looked down at his boyfriend's naked chest before lowering himself and licking a trail down to his throbbing erection.

Sasuke moaned when he felt the mind-numbing warmth engulf his member. Naruto smiled around his boyfriend's cock before snaking his arm around Sasuke's body and poking a tentative finger into Sasuke's ass.

Sasuke opened his eye in shock as he felt the finger move within him. Naruto make a huge sucking motion with his mouth and Sasuke moaned again. Each time he added another finger, Naruto increased the intensity of the blow job so that Sasuke wouldn't feel pain. Finally, at three fingers, he started to loosen him up, hitting his prostate and causing Sasuke to scream.

"It really _does_ feel that good," Sasuke panted.

"Duh, I don't scream and moan just for the sake of your ego," Naruto said after pulling off the raven's cock. He took the bottle of lube that they'd used minutes earlier on Sasuke's own cock and he slathered up his throbbing erection with it. He positioned himself so that his head was poking at Sasuke's entrance before beginning to thrust in.

Sasuke grit his teeth and grabbed the sheets in pain, so Naruto leaned over and planted kisses on his neck while he thrust more into the addictive heat. Finally, Naruto was in to the hilt and he waited for Sasuke to adjust before continuing. After about five minutes, Sasuke pushed back on Naruto's cock and the blond started thrusting.

It took mere seconds for the blond to find the raven's prostate, and after the first hit, Naruto just kept thrusting to hit that spot every time. Sasuke was gritting his teeth, trying not to cry out, but by the eighth hit to his prostate, he couldn't help but cry out as he came.

Naruto slowed down when he felt Sasuke's walls expand and contract over his throbbing erection so that he wouldn't come. He knew that as much pleasure as Sasuke took from this, he still would demand to top most of the time. Who knew when Naruto would get this chance again?

Naruto started thrusting in and out again, hitting Sasuke's abused prostate over and over. Sasuke was on such a high from his orgasm that he couldn't even moan properly anymore. It took all of five seconds for Sasuke to get hard again, and Naruto reached around, gripping his length in his hands.

Naruto timed each pump on Sasuke's cock with the hitting of his prostate, and within seconds, Sasuke was teetering on the edge of orgasm again. Naruto was almost there, too. It took about three more thrusts before Naruto emptied his seed inside his boyfriend. Almost immediately after, Sasuke came all over their chests and Naruto's hand. For the second time that day, they collapsed on top of each other with smiles plastered on their faces.

"I love you," Naruto told the raven, breaking the silence.

"I love you, too," Sasuke said.

**The End…well, sort of…we **_**do**_** have the epilogue left. Thanks to everyone for sticking by me. I love every single one of you, whether you reviewed, followed the story, favorite it, or put me on alert or your favorites. Heck, even if you took the time to read through the whole story, I love you! Remember, I'll be posting the epilogue on Christmas. Ja ne!**


	20. Epilogue  Love: Acquired

**Disclaimer: I own Naruto? Since when?**

**Author's Note: I didn't get many reviews from the last chapter, but it doesn't really matter…it's not like I can hold the story hostage when there's only the epilogue left…lol.**

**Anyway, thanks again to my reviewers:**LoveUntilWeBleed** and **Eztli. **Anyway, this is the last chapter of Love: Discovered, and I wanted to thank everyone, whether they read, put the story on alert, favorited the story, or reviewed the story. You all made it worth it to me.**

**So without further ado, the final installation of Love: Discovered. Just a warning. In the beginning, it's very all over the place. Like, there might be a little bit before the next story break. Sorry for that if it's confusing, but it was the only way it would work in my brain.**

Epilogue – Love: Acquired

~~~7 Weeks Later~~~

Sasuke Uchiha could _not_ believe it. He almost just killed Tsunade and Shizune after they examined him. They were liars, and they were crazy. They were crazy liars. Who in their right mind would suggest Sasuke was…_pregnant_?

Sure, he was throwing up often, usually in the mornings, but that doesn't mean pregnant. Guys don't get pregnant. It could be some rare cancer for all he knew. It was more likely a bug going around, though. Naruto had been throwing up since Sasuke started, and it's not like even Shizune or Tsunade are crazy enough to suggest that we're _both_ pregnant.

That would be about as silly as…well, _me_ being pregnant at all!

_Flashback:_

"_So what are your symptoms?" Shizune asked._

"_Well, I've been throwing up a lot the last couple of weeks," Sasuke said. "Um, I feel kind of tired most of the time, especially on missions. My chest has been sore for the last few weeks, and I have to take a leak almost ten times a day."_

"_Is that all?" Tsunade asked._

"_Well, I did faint once," Sasuke admitted. "And I've also had this weird craving for peanut butter sushi. I've also put on a little bit of weight."_

_Tsunade and Shizune looked at each other with confused and shocked glances._

"_Shizune," Tsunade said, "go get the book on the Tailed Demons."_

_Shizune left and reappeared minutes later with a large book in her hand. They put it down and flipped through pages._

_It didn't make sense to Sasuke. He was in this boat because of _Naruto_? Well, the blond had had some of the same symptoms right before Sasuke did, so it was probably a bug going around. Could it have been created by the Nine-Tailed Fox?_

_Shizune started reading aloud. "'When the male container of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox is a dominant in a homosexual relationship, the Nine-Tail's need to reproduce must be fulfilled, so he mixes his own sperm with that of his holder. This demon sperm can rearrange internal organs and cause a pregnancy in the submissive partner. These pregnancies tend to be dangerous and result in a Caesarian section to remove the baby at the end of the gestation period.'"_

"_You're saying I was knocked up by Demon sperm?" Sasuke deadpanned. "Are you crazy or are you just high?"_

"_Neither," Shizune insisted._

"_When dealing with Demonic powers, you can never be sure of reality," Tsunade explained. "It seems like the Fox's sperm has 'knocked you up', as you said."_

"_But I'm not even submissive!" Sasuke yelled. "How could that…" he trailed off when he had a realization, his eyes going wide. "That one time," he said aloud. He looked back up at Shizune and Tsunade. "You can't get pregnant after only one time, can you?"_

"_Of course you can," Shizune said._

"_Just fucking great," Sasuke muttered._

_End Flashback_

Sure it was _possible_, but it was entirely unlikely. Even if it sort of made total sense, it didn't mean that it was true. Heck, it would be more likely for _Naruto_ to be pregnant, he bottoms so much.

That's when Sasuke got worried. Seven months ago, Naruto promised to marry him in seven years. Would he change his mind because of the baby? If not, their child would be over five years old by the time they get married.

That's when another thought occurred to Sasuke – what if the blond didn't want kids? Sure, Sasuke had always wanted to rebuild his clan, but Naruto and he never talked about it because they had no need.

Sasuke knew he had to tell Naruto, though. And no matter what, he'd stand by his child.

OoOoOoOoO

"You're kidding me," Naruto said as he looked at the two doctors who were standing in front of him. "You're telling me, that the Nine-Tailed Fox and Sasuke knocked me up?"

"That's the gist of it," Tsunade said, trying to hide her smile. "Since the Fox wanted to reproduce, it did it through you, giving you the necessary organs for reproduction."

"So in a few months, I'll have a baby?" Naruto asked.

"Exactly," Shizune said. After getting some vitamins, Naruto left the hospital, leaving the two medical ninjas to discuss their patients.

"That was ironic, wasn't it?" Shizune asked Tsunade.

"Ironic, and fucking hilarious!" Tsunade said.

OoOoOoOoO

When Sasuke got home, he found a letter from the blond.

_Sasuke,_

_Went to hospital to find out why I'm sick. I'll be home for dinner._

_Love, Naruto_

Sasuke smiled, and decided to cook Naruto dinner. He wanted everything to be absolutely perfect for when he made his announcement.

He quickly got to making his favorite meal, and then hit himself in the head. Since when would Naruto appreciate fine Japanese cuisine? He decided to keep what he made for himself and he left the house to get Ichiraku takeout.

OoOoOoOoO

It was perfect.

When Naruto got home, he was treated to a mixture of smells in his apartment ranging from the incense that were lit, to the exotic meal Sasuke had prepared, to…was that…it was!...Ichiraku ramen. Naruto was in odor heaven.

"You're home," Sasuke said when the blond appeared in the kitchen.

"You're cooking," Naruto said, furrowing his brows. "I didn't know you knew how to cook."

"Well, there are, like, five restaurants in the village, and I lived alone," Sasuke said. "I had to learn eventually. Not everyone goes to Ichiraku's every day."

"Speaking of Ichiraku's," Naruto said, noticing the takeout bag on the counter.

"Well, I'm sure you'd appreciate it more than this," Sasuke said, motioning to the food he'd prepared.

"What's the occasion?" Naruto asked.

"I have some news," Sasuke said. "Now, set the table, and I'll tell you the news during dinner."

"That works," Naruto said. "I have some news for you, too."

Naruto obediently set the table while Sasuke turned off the stove and put the food on the table. They sat down and began to eat.

"So what's this news you wanted to tell me?" Sasuke asked.

"No, you go first," Naruto said.

"No, you," Sasuke insisted.

"You go first," Naruto repeated.

"_You_ go first," Sasuke said.

"Fine, we'll say it at the same time," Naruto said. "One…two…three."

"I'M PREGNANT" two voices said at the same time. "WHAT?" They both repeated.

"Your little friend put some demon sperm in me and knocked me up," Sasuke said.

"I guess he got tired of waiting for _me_ to get pregnant," Naruto said. "But I guess right before he knocked you up, he had _you_ knock _me_ up."

"So wait…" Sasuke said.

"We're both…" Naruto continued.

"This is just too weird," Sasuke said.

"Well, weird is my little name," Naruto said.

"So do you…" Sasuke trailed off, twirling his noodles with his fork.

"Do I what?" Naruto asked.

"Do you…do you still want to wait a few more years until we get married?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "Won't it be nice having our kids at our wedding?"

"I guess you're right," Sasuke said.

"See, it all worked out!" Naruto said. "You were able to kill Itachi, and now you can revive your clan!"

"I guess," Sasuke laughed. "Now how do we tell everyone?"

~~~7 Years Later~~~

"Sasuto!" Sasuke yelled at his son. "Stop chasing Naruke!"

"But dad," the blond haired, onyx eyed boy whined. "It's fun." Sasuke sent a light glare at his spawn, who pouted. He _so_ did not inherit that from Sasuke. Naruke stuck his tongue out at his brother and smiled a huge, goofy grin. That was another Naruto trait.

"Are you ready yet?" came Shikamaru's voice from the couch. "Waiting for you is so troublesome."

"Daddy," asked the raven haired, blue eyed boy named Naruke. "Why does Uncle Shikamaru always say 'troublesome'?"

"Because he's a lazy bum," Sasuke explained, straightening his tie. He turned around to face his boys and the lazy man chilling on the sofa. "Is everyone ready? Naruto's been a real bridezilla. The last thing we need is to be late." He walked out the door as Shikamaru stood up.

"Uncle Shikamaru," Sasuto began, "what does 'bridezilla' mean?"

"It means that the wedding fell on Naruto's time of the month," Shikamaru said, following the raven haired adult out the door.

Sasuto turned to Naruke with a quizzical look. "I heard Aunt Sakura talking about it with Granny Tsunade," Naruke stated. I think it has something to do with blood."

"Do you think Daddy is on a mission?" Sasuto asked worriedly. Naruke didn't have time to answer because Sasuke yelled at them from outside and they ran out.

The four men walked through the Leaf Village until they finally made it to the Hokage mansion.

"It's about time," Naruto said, stomping his foot.

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said, kissing his groom on the lips in a heated kiss. "Just get inside."

"Pushy teme," Naruto muttered under his breath.

The five men made it inside the door. Shikamaru found Sakura, and the two of them sat down together, Sakura proudly showing off her new engagement ring to anyone who would look. Half the town was there ready to see the Uchiha orphan marry the new Hokage. Heck, if Kakashi were still alive, he'd probably be on time for this event. It's not every day that your two students marry.

The ceremony began, and it ended. Naruto and Sasuke were husband and…husband. They began walking down the aisle out of the mansion to go to their honeymoon when Naruto looked back and told Naruke and Sasuto to behave with Auntie Sakura and Uncle Shikamaru while they were gone.

"I love you teme," Naruto said as they were leaving.

"I love you too," Sasuke said, kissing Naruto's cheek. "Dobe."

**Author's Note: That's it. Wahhhhhhh! :( I hope this wasn't too bad…it was a little different than I usually write. Anyway, thanks for sticky by me and reading the whole story. Send me a little review love, and have a Happy New Year.**


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